Better With You
by TwistedSky
Summary: Bonnie discovers that Elena and Damon are dating. Eventually she realizes why that bothers her so much: she's in love with Damon. Also: Caroline/Stefan, Jeremy/Tyler and minor Matt/Elena.
1. Chapter 1

First off, I disclaim. Secondly, I'd like to say that I'm playing a lot with the pairings, so there may be pairings you don't like. For instance, there's Delena and Bamon, if you dislike Bamon you may not want to read this story, if you love Delena, understand that it's not endgame. I'd prefer to avoid any angry reviews over my pairing choices. Also, Elena gets a little bit bashed during this fic, but I promise you that she does, indeed, undergo a bit of character growth and get what I think is a fairly happy ending.

I think it's a happy sort of fic-with angsty goodness sandwiched inside.

Anyways, so at the end of my last Bamon fic I had people vote in their reviews as to which pairings they wanted, and the endgame pairings are _all _based on those results. Also, so the fact that I'm really playing with the pairings is indicative of how incredibly amazing the chemistry is between all of the cast members on TVD! So this fic was inspired by CrazedBamonFan who was ranting a few weeks ago on twitter. Here goes.

Enjoy!

XXXXXXX

"Stefan and Elena broke up," Bonnie said as if she didn't quite believe the words. "I thought they'd handled their issues last year after the whole Katherine thing."

"They did," Jeremy said tentatively, almost as if he didn't want to explain what was really going on. Mostly, of course, because he didn't.

"Jeremy, what aren't you telling me?" Bonnie and Jeremy had had a bit of flirtation last year until they'd realized there was very little romantic chemistry between the two of them. He was still acting a little awkward around her though, and she didn't know how to snap him out of it. He seemed to not feel as comfortable around her as before, and that upset her, because she valued their friendship. And now he was withholding important information. This was unacceptable. "Jeremy," she said warningly.

"They broke up because she's in love with someone else." Jeremy almost seemed to explode with the words, as if he couldn't hold them in anymore.

Bonnie blinked, because that all she could do. That made absolutely no sense. "What the hell?"

"I know, it makes me uncomfortable too."

"When?"

Jeremy hesitated, "A week ago."

"Who?" Bonnie practically demanded, she was trying to avoid the hurt that she felt. Elena should have told her.

"Damon," Jeremy said, looking at the ceiling, floor, wall, _anywhere _but at Bonnie.

Bonnie buried her left hand in her hair. No, no, _no._

"Jeremy," Bonnie warned when her power of speech returned. "Look at me now and tell me you're kidding."

He met her eyes, "No," he sighed, "I wish I were. But I'm not." He shrugged helplessly.

"I can't process this right now," Bonnie said. "I need to—"

"Talk to Caroline?" Jeremy suggested, proving that he still knew her pretty well, even if their friendship was a bit fragmented.

"Yes," Bonnie said, almost smiling until she remembered the seriousness of the situation. "We'll talk later." Bonnie awkwardly wrapped her arms around Jeremy. "You know we're still friends, right?"

Jeremy smiled slightly, "Yeah, we are." As he watched Bonnie leave, Jeremy wondered whether that were actually true. Because he really needed a friend right now.

XXXX

"I'm sorry. I think you just said something that implies that if I go outside pigs will be flying, signaling the impending apocalypse." Caroline looked at Bonnie as if she'd lost her mind, as if Bonnie had somehow gotten lost in a delusion and would find her way back soon.

Bonnie almost laughed, but under the circumstances it wasn't funny, so she managed to keep a straight face. "I'm serious."

"You can't be."

Bonnie sighed, "Caroline, I'm worried about her. What if she's under some sort of compulsion? I don't—"

"As much as Damon is ridiculously in love with Elena, he wouldn't do that to Elena. Or Stefan for that matter."

"You seem sure of that."

Caroline sighed, "Look, Bonnie. I know you and Damon don't always necessarily get along—" Bonnie snorted and Caroline merely raised and eyebrow and continued, "But he's not a bad guy. Even though he pretends to be, he isn't. And he loves Stefan."

"He should have at least waited. If he truly loves Stefan as much as you say he does, then he shouldn't have made a play for his brother's girl while they were still together—"

At that moment Elena interrupted, "Actually, he didn't." She walked into the kitchen, where Caroline and Bonnie had been 'talking' and leaned on the counter. "I did. I made the decision. This isn't about Damon, you guys. This about me. Stefan and I—we weren't working anymore. And Stefan is okay, he doesn't hate us. He . . . wished us happiness."

"Wow, I can't believe you're actually delusional enough to believe that." Bonnie looked at Caroline in confusion, she seemed to be more upset with Elena than anyone else.

"He understands," Elena insisted.

"That sounds like Stefan," Bonnie muttered, looking down at her hands and sighing. But only because he wasn't selfish enough to rage at them, or to guilt them out of being together. Stefan was better than either of them.

He deserved better, Bonnie thought to herself.

"He deserves better than you anyway, Elena. How could you do this to him?" Caroline berated Elena. "How long have you been cheating on him?"

Bonnie looked back up quickly at her friend in surprise. She hadn't realized that Caroline and Stefan had grown so close. "Caroline, I don't think—"

"I didn't. We ended things last week, but I've been so busy I just hadn't told you. And Damon and I have been . . . bonding for the past few days." Elena said, trying to explain herself. "I've been falling for him for the past few months, and now we're giving things a chance."

Caroline ignored Elena's attempts to explain herself, "You're such a bitch sometimes."

Bonnie took Elena's stunned silence as an opportunity to turn to Damon, "And you, Damon. How could you do this to Stefan? Wait, don't answer that, because in the end you don't care about anyone other than yourself."

"He cares about me," Elena cut in. "And that's what matters." Caroline looked at Elena like she made her sick. There was more to life than just Elena.

Despite Elena's words Damon, for the first time in the time that Bonnie had known him, had the decency to actually seem ashamed. Almost . . . regretful.

Bonnie wondered if that were Elena's influence on him—if somehow she brought the best in him.

Elena had always seemed to quiet the part of Damon that made him _Damon_. Even now, even though he seemed to have what he wanted, he was being quiet. He wasn't snarking about the situation, he wasn't espousing his wonderful "virtues" as being somehow superior to his brother's. Instead, he was _quiet_. And maybe that meant Elena made him a better person, but Bonnie almost thought it was rather . . . disappointing. But she didn't have the time or want to consider why that was.

She just expected more of him, that was all.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Elena finally said. "But how you feel . . . it doesn't change anything. I'm still with Damon, and he's still with me."

Caroline smiled sadly, "It does change things Elena, you just don't realize it yet," Caroline turned, nodded goodbye to Bonnie and left.

"She'll—" Bonnie was about to say she'd get over it, but she was pretty sure that Caroline would hold her grudge for a fairly long time. "Just give her some space."

Elena sighed and got up. She walked over to Damon and leaned into him. Bonnie watched in amazement, "Um, if you're just going to make googly faces at each other, I want you to leave."

Damon stared at her, and instead of challenging her he just nodded, as if he actually understood what she was feeling.

She doubted it though, because she didn't even understand it. She just wanted them to leave, because this _circus freak show_ was unnecessary. And annoying.

Everything was wrong, and she didn't want to have anything to do with it. Bonnie just stood and watched as Elena reached out for Damon's hand before they left.

Eew. There was really something wrong with that.

XXXX

Bonnie Bennett wasn't much like Elena. Sure, they were best friends, but there were times when Bonnie questioned her friend's approach to life. While Elena might have stood by and waited, believing that Bonnie knew exactly what she was doing, Bonnie felt no such desire. Something was wrong here.

Bonnie believed quite firmly that she would never be the kind of girl who just let things happen, so the first opportunity she had, she went to go see Stefan.

She'd texted him beforehand, suggesting that they meet at her home so that they could stay off the radar of their circle of friends. He'd seemed to hesitate, suggesting that maybe they shouldn't meet. She'd replied telling him that he didn't have a choice. He'd given in after that, deciding not to argue.

She sat—almost nervously—awaiting his visit. It was strange, meeting secretly with her best friend's ex.

It wasn't betrayal, because that was a non-issue. It was just strange, because they weren't really friends. Or, maybe they were. It was hard to tell sometimes.

Bonnie heard a knock at the door and seemed to jump two or three feet up in the air. She breathed deeply to get back her composure and opened the door. "Stefan, hey, come in." She stepped back for him to walk in.

"So what is it?" Stefan asked, not meanly, but rather . . . resigned.

"I'm worried about Elena. This isn't like her." Bonnie's heart clenched for Stefan when she saw his face fall at the mention of Elena's name. "What happened to you two, Stefan? You were so in love and now you're just—"

"Not," Stefan completed for her with a small smile. "Can we sit?"

"Sure," they walked over to sit in the kitchen. Bonnie grabbed a bottle of water for herself. "I really don't mean to be nosy, but I'm worried."

"I know," Stefan said simply.

"I know you and I aren't particularly close, but I like to think we're . . . friendly. I supposed we've worked together often enough to warrant being . . . friends. Or am I being presumptuous?" Bonnie was obviously a little flustered, and she didn't seem to know how to approach the subject matter at hand.

Stefan smiled kindly, "Bonnie," he held out his hand and placed it on her hands—which had been fluttering awkwardly about in the air—"We're friends."

Bonnie smiled. "Good. I'm glad." It surprised her to realize that the idea of being friends with Stefan wasn't as bad as it would have been even just a few short months prior. She'd finally forgiven him. Anyway, I think Elena might be under some sort of spell, why else would she break up with you for _Damon_? Obviously we need to find out what's going on and put a stop to it—"

Stefan squeezed her hands delicately to interrupt her stream of words. "It's not just her, Bonnie."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, as if she didn't quite believe him. She didn't.

Stefan, seeing the look on her face just closed his eyes and sighed. "Things are different now."

"What happened, Stefan?" Bonnie asked. Honestly, although there had been times that she'd hated Stefan, she'd almost always looked at Stefan and Elena as the shining example of what love was supposed to be.

"After we finally got over everything with Katherine, Damon started seeing Rose, and Elena just . . . realized that she had feelings for him."

"She was jealous," Bonnie stated.

"Yes. And I—I want her to be happy, Bonnie. Even if it means it can't happen with me. And honestly, she's been pulling away from me for months, we're just not in love anymore."

Bonnie looked into Stefan's eyes, "You sound like you believe that," Bonnie said, amazed.

"Because I do." He really did seem to. "Anyway, thank you for caring, Bonnie. You're a good friend. Most people don't give credit for that, but you are. I should, um, probably go."

"Don't," Bonnie said, shocking herself because she hadn't been aware she was going to ask him to stay. Bonnie wanted to hear more, and she wanted to comfort him. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want him to be alone.

Stefan looked at her in confusion.

"I think we're friends, Stefan. And therefore I think that as your friend it is my responsibility to cheer you up."

Stefan looked like he was torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to ask her if she needed a trip to a nice little white padded room. He decided on neither. "Why?"

"Because you're hurting. I can feel it." She looked down at her hands, which had been holding Stefan's minutes before. "And that bothers me."

"Okay, how exactly are you going to cheer me up?" Stefan asked curiously, deciding to stay on a whim.

Bonnie smiled confidently, "I haven't exactly figured that out yet, but I think we could probably start with a really bad B movie marathon."

Stefan laughed. "Sounds fun." He meant that it sounded normal, and like it might manage to distract him from the pain in his heart.

XXXX

"Give them time."

"I don't understand why they're so upset in the first place," Elena practically pouted. But in the cute, Elena-sort-of-way, Damon assured himself.

"They like Stefan, Elena. It's like how there's an army of teenage girls that would attack any girl with the audacity to break Justin Bieber's heart."

Elena just stared at him. "I'm sorry, did you compare me to Justin Bieber?"

"No," Damon said, smiling slightly. "Actually I compared Stefan to him. You're more like—" Damon saw a strange look forming on Elena's face, "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

"Fine," Elena said. She pasted a smile on her face and leaned into him on the couch. "Are we going to be okay?"

Damon hesitated.

"Are we?" Elena demanded. "We're starting a new relationship, and I don't think if you already have doubts it's going to work out particularly well. I want us to be honest with each other, Damon."

"Elena, I'm not going to make promises I can't keep." _And you shouldn't either_, Damon thought to himself.

"I love you, Damon."

At that, instead of telling her he felt the same way, he showed her, leaning in to kiss her softly.

XXXXXXX

So, what do you think so far? The next chapter will explain exactly how Damon and Elena came to be, and their motivations. Also, Tyler and Matt show up! Ensemble fic FTW.


	2. Chapter 2

Anyways, chapter two! I disclaim. I hope you enjoy it!

XXXXXX

Caroline was mildly annoyed. She stared at the chip in her nail polish. That wouldn't do. She wasn't a horribly superficial person, and she'd made a lot of progress in the past few years, but she was still a girl. And it sucked to chip nail polish.

She sighed.

That wasn't the problem.

She wasn't really upset about the nail polish; she was upset about Elena and Damon. Or, maybe more honestly, she was upset _with _them—though honestly Elena more so, because Damon had been obsessed with Elena way before Elena had decided to break his brother's heart. Damon she understood, because he was in love.

Caroline quite frankly believed that Elena only wanted Damon because she'd seen him with someone else for a few months, and hadn't liked realizing that he wasn't going to pine over her forever. There was no way in hell she was in love with Damon.

Elena was just being selfish.

It was strange, because Elena could be a really nice person, but she had a tendency to make decisions without thinking about their consequences. Like what she'd done with Bonnie, _constantly_ letting her risk her life for silly spells. Elena just didn't get it.

And now she'd hurt Stefan, and that was the last straw as far as Caroline was concerned.

Stefan had been there for her when she'd first become a vampire, and was the only reason why Caroline was still around. She was so incredibly grateful to him, and he'd become a friend to her.

A true friend.

And while what she really wanted to do was bite off Elena's head for being such a bitch . . . she couldn't. So she was planning on doing the next best thing: comforting him. _That_ she could do.

XXXX

Sometimes when you actually make your dream reality, it's not as great as it was as a mere hypothetical.

Damon was beginning to realize this. Elena wasn't really what he'd expected. It had only been a week though, so he was assuming that it would get better.

_It had to._

Katherine hadn't been what he'd expected, but when he'd met Elena, he'd thought of her as the more pure, better version of Katherine. In reality, he didn't actually know Elena very well.

He'd fallen in love with who he thought she was, instead of who she actually was.

He wanted to be a better person for Elena though, so he was trying, and giving it time. But he still thought he should have felt . . . happier.

At first he'd thought it was the guilt. Because Elena had been in love with Stefan, and now she was in love with him. It had shocked him. For the past year he'd tried to stay out of their relationship, because even though he wanted her, he recognized that Stefan could make her happy while he couldn't.

But then he'd seen them drawing apart—though he hadn't understood why. Damon hadn't done anything, he'd actually tried to push them back together. But then a few months prior Elena had come to him and kissed him.

It had shocked him.

She'd pulled away seconds later and smiled sadly, " I just wanted to see what it's like," and she'd left. Damon hadn't mentioned it again, and neither had she.

Then two weeks ago she'd come to him saying that she was ending things with Stefan because she'd realized she wasn't in love with him anymore.

He'd stared at her, "Your point being?"

She'd seemed frustrated at that, "You, Damon. I want you." She'd leapt up at that, kissing him.

At first he'd pulled away, checking to make sure he hadn't missed something, that she hadn't somehow been Katherine, or even under some sort of spell. Then he'd sent her away, saying he didn't want to do that to Stefan.

Stefan had disappeared for a week after that, so Damon hadn't been able to check up on him. Because no matter what else happened, they were still brothers, with a bond stronger now than it had ever been. And Elena would not get in the way of that, no matter how much Damon loved her.

But then Stefan had come back, saying he'd needed some time to think. He'd looked at Damon for a moment as if he'd needed to say something.

"Are you okay?" Damon had asked.

Stefan had replied almost instantly, with a small, sad smile. "No, not really. But it doesn't matter."

Damon's seemingly perpetual smirk was gone at that point, "I heard about you and Elena, I'm sorry."

Stefan had stared at him for a moment, seemingly searching for something. Damon couldn't quite tell if he'd found it. "I know," Stefan said finally. "And that's what makes this easier."

"Makes what easier?" Damon had asked, genuinely confused.

"You're in love with Elena," Stefan held up a hand to head off the stream of somewhat-denial that he knew was coming. "And she . . . loves you," he'd practically had to cough out the words, because he was so obviously in pain.

"Stefan—"

"Damon, it's okay." Stefan had stepped closer at that point, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. "I want both of you to be happy. And if that means you're together—" Stefan had stopped. He'd taken a deep breath, because it had been hard for him to get the words out. "Then so be it."

"I won't do that to you, not like this." He didn't want her like this.

"You've spent enough time being in love with someone who loves me, you should be with someone who loves you."

"But I—"

Stefan had looked deep into his eyes, "Please."

And all Damon could do was nod.

That was how it had begun. Later that day he'd run into Elena she'd looked at him as if her heart wanted to break. So he'd shocked her with a kiss, and that had been that.

And he was beginning to wonder when things would start to feel normal. When they were together, they'd just sit there, sometimes making out, sometimes just sitting quietly. And it wasn't a natural sort of quiet; it was almost as if they didn't have anything to say.

He expected it to get better. He loved Elena, so everything had to work out eventually, right?

XXXX

Caroline bounced up to the Salvatore home. She knocked on the door. She leaned forward and listening. She heard laughing and frowned.

"What are you doing here, Caroline?" Damon said from behind her.

She swirled around. "I want to talk to Stefan."

"I think he's busy." Damon nodded towards the house. "Bonnie."

Caroline's eyes grew wide, "No way."

Damon smirked. "Yes, way."

As Caroline opened her mouth to respond the door behind her opened. She swirled around, "Stefan, Bonnie. Hi."

Bonnie looked awkwardly away from Caroline's face after muttering a hello. This meant that her eyes eventually drifted toward Damon, who merely nodded at her and stood brooding.

"Caroline, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked politely, but obviously curious.

"I came, um, to see you. To make sure you're okay," she glanced at Bonnie. "But obviously Bonnie here has you covered."

Bonnie lifted an eyebrow and quirked her head to the side at the odd sense she received from her friend. "I was just leaving."

Stefan looked at her in surprise, "See you later, Bonnie."

"Yeah, see you later." Caroline said weirdly.

As the three of them watched Bonnie walk away Damon sighed and ran off after her. "Hey, Bonnie, I wanted to talk to you. So I might as well make sure you get home safely."

Bonnie smirked, "I think I can cause anyone who is actually a threat to me plenty of pain."

Damon smiled, "That I believe, and I think you'd enjoy it too."

"What are you implying?" Bonnie shot back, slowing down her gait without even consciously realizing it.

"That you're a bit of a masochist, obviously."

"Coming from you I'm not even sure whether or not to consider that an insult."

"Touché."

They didn't look at each other, but they both smiled.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Bonnie finally asked, warily.

"Stefan."

At that Bonnie turned to him in surprise. "That's . . . interesting. I thought you were going to tell me to forgive Elena."

Damon's smile was gone and he was all seriousness. "Bonnie, this is a complicated situation. I'm trying to fix things. And Stefan is really hurting, and I need to make sure he's okay. And you've been spending time with him, so—"

Bonnie interrupted him, "You want me to take care of him and make sure he doesn't hate you."

"No, I want you to make sure he's okay."

Bonnie looked at Damon as if she'd never seen him before. "I think I can do that. Stefan matters to me."

"He matters to me too," Damon replied simply.

And for the first time Bonnie almost wanted to believe him. But not quite.

For the rest of the walk, they spoke of less serious things—arguing about half a dozen different topics before finally they arrived at Bonnie's home. He'd said goodbye and she'd turned to respond, but then realized he was gone.

Bonnie sighed and walked inside, closing the door behind her and leaning against it, slipping down into a sitting position. "That was strange."

Bonnie heard a knock at the door and jumped up in surprise. She opened the door, half-expecting to see Damon, and was surprised to see Matt and Tyler.

She blinked in confusion. "Hey."

"Were you expecting someone? Because your face just kinda dropped, like you'd like us to go away or something." Matt looked at her, a little concerned.

Bonnie forced a smile onto her face. "No, it's fine. Come in."

"Matt, didn't you leave . . . something here the other day?" Tyler asked pointedly.

Matt looked at him in confusion, but upon seeing the look on Tyler's face merely nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to go look for it if that's okay?"

Bonnie just cocked her head to the side, "Go ahead." She waited until he was out of hearing before she turned to Tyler, "What's going on?"

Tyler sighed. "I don't want Matt to know, so I just . . . made something up that I told him I needed to talk to you about. "

Bonnie looked at him in confusion. "What doesn't he know?"

Tyler opened his mouth, as if to speak when someone knocked on her front door again. Tyler stood up straight and seemed instantly nervous.

Bonnie opened the door and saw Jeremy,"Jeremy?"

This was just strange. First Matt and Tyler, and now Jeremy.

"Hey, can I come in? I want to talk to you about something."

"I'm just train station today, aren't I?" Bonnie smiled and stepped back, motioning him in as she watched him. She saw a strange look come over his face. She looked at where his eyes had gone and saw Tyler.

"Are you two fighting over a girl again?" Bonnie asked as if she were slightly exasperated, which she was.

A look of fear crossed Jeremy's face, and a look of shock appeared on Tyler's.

Bonnie looked back and forth between both of them. She saw a look of . . . yearning. "Are you two . . . " she trailed off in shock.

Jeremy's face shuttered, "No."

Tyler looked at Jeremy sadly, "Yeah, no."

Bonnie looked at her two friends and didn't know what to say.

"No what?" Matt asked as he came into the hall. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Bonnie, Jeremy and Tyler said in unison.

Matt cocked his head, "Really? Because that was kinda suspicious, you guys."

Bonnie plastered a wide, obviously fake smile on her face. "It's fine, Matt. Don't you have to work soon?" She made a big deal out of checking her watch.

"Oh yeah. I'll see you guys later." Matt thankfully got the hint.

Jeremy realized that she was planning on getting them alone and a panicked look crossed his face. "Hey, Matt, can I get a ride with you there? I'm supposed to meet Elena there."

Matt smiled, unaware of the awkwardness between his friends. "Sure, come on."

As Jeremy passed Tyler to leave, Tyler shot him a warning look. Jeremy just lifted an eyebrow.

Bonnie tried to hide her smile. She waited until Jeremy closed the door before turning to Tyler. "Tyler-"

"You know, I really have to go." He was obviously close to panicking.

"Tyler," Bonnie said kindly. "You came here to talk. So talk."

Tyler buried his hand in his hair and sighed. "I kind of don't have anyone else to talk to."

"You have me," Bonnie assured him.

"I need to sit down."

"Okay." They moved into the living room and sat down on couches that faced each other.

Tyler buried his face in his hands, leaning on his knees.

"Tyler, what's going on?" Bonnie tried to nudge him along gently after he was silent for almost a minute.

"We kissed."

Bonnie's eyes widened slightly. "You and Jeremy?" She asked, trying to sound supportive.

"Yeah," Tyler muttered. "We were just hanging out and it happened."

"Oh." Bonnie took Tyler's hands in her own. "And how do you feel about that?"

"I don't know."

"What happened when you, um, stopped?"

Tyler's head came up and he looked her in the eye, "We stared at each other. And he mumbled something about being sorry and we've been avoiding each other since."

"When did it happen?"

"Two weeks ago. I can't stop thinking about it." Tyler got a weird sort of look on his face.

"Oh, Tyler." Bonnie smiled softly. "You like him."

"No! I mean, maybe. No."

Bonnie hesitated before asking her next question, "Do you . . . want to kiss him again?"

Tyler closed his eyes. "Sometimes, yeah."

Bonnie moved over to sit next to Tyler, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Then maybe you should talk to him. Maybe you should see how he feels."

"I'm not gay," Tyler said firmly. "I can't be."

Bonnie squeezed his shoulder slightly, "It's not the end of the world if you are, you know."

Tyler turned to her, "Are you sure about that? Because I'm not that guy."

Bonnie hugged him, "No matter what happens, understand that it won't change how any of us feel about you. You're still Tyler, no matter what happens."

Tyler sighed, "Thank you, Bonnie. For listening."

"Always, Tyler." Bonnie smiled. "But I hope you talk to Jeremy, because whether you . . . have feelings for each other or not, you still need to talk it out."

"I know."

Bonnie pulled away, "No matter what happens, we're still friends. Remember that."

XXXXXX

Next chapter will be up tomorrow with some Stefan/Caroline.


	3. Chapter 3

And here we go! I may have rushed it a bit because I have to go see Deathly Hallows.*bounces excitedly* Thanks for the lovely reviews! I hope you like it!

XXXXXX

After Bonnie and Damon left, Stefan and Caroline just smiled at each other—Stefan seemingly genuinely happy, and Caroline a bit nervously.

"Come in," Stefan said, moving back so that she could enter.

"Thanks," Caroline said.

"So what brings you here? Everything okay?" Stefan asked, a little concerned.

"Yeah, I was just worried about you actually,"Caroline smiled brightly. "You were there when I needed you, so I want to be here for you. And, um, apparently Bonnie is too."

Stefan looked at her as if he'd never really quite seen her before. "Thank you, Caroline." He smiled at her, deciding to ignore the awkwardness. "Bonnie was just being a good friend, much like you, might I add."

Caroline facepalmed. "Wow, I'm being silly. I just, I wanted to make sure that you know that if you need me, you have me." Her eyes widened as she realized how that sounded, "I mean, um." She stopped and took a deep breath.

Stefan quirked his head to the side cutely, "It's okay, Caroline."

Caroline just stared into his eyes for a brief moment. She stopped smiling. "So, are you okay?"

Stefan lifted his hands and shrugged, "As happy as I can be," he said softly.

Caroline took his hand, "What happened, Stefan? You loved each other . . . and now it's just over."

Stefan sighed and squeezed her hand back, "Honestly, Caroline, it just happens that way sometimes. You know that as well as I do."

Caroline looked at him as if she didn't quite believe that that was all there was to it. "How do you feel, Stefan?"

Stefan's smile disappeared. "I'm fine."

"_Fine _is not a feeling," Caroline said sternly.

"But it's true."

"No, it's not," Caroline teasingly whacked him with her free hand. "Is this more of a "get the cavalry, we're taking her down" or winning Elena back sort of situation?" Caroline asked, semi-seriously.

Stefan just laughed, "Neither. It hurts, but it'll go away."

Caroline opened her mouth to worry when Stefan held up the hand not still entangled in Caroline's. "Don't worry, I'm not about to go off the deep end and declare I'll never love anyone else ever again."

"You will," Caroline heard herself say without even thinking.

Stefan looked at her in surprise. "I will. Just like after you and Matt broke up you dated Tyler for a while. Just because a relationship ends doesn't mean the world does too."

"I could set you up with someone, if you want." Caroline winced. Yeah, she didn't want to do that. She needed to stop saying things without thinking them through. She would have smacked herself upside the head if that wouldn't have made her seem incredibly suspicious.

"Caroline," Stefan said slowly, taking his other hand in hers. He swung their hands back and forth between them. "That's not what I want. I want to be alone." The look on his face said otherwise though, and Caroline could read him well enough to know that.

She didn't want him to be so unhappy, not because of _Elena. _She wasn't special enough to warrant that. "You were alone for a really long time before Elena," Caroline said, then winced again when Stefan stopped and a look of pain crossed his face. "I'm sorry," Caroline whispered. "That's not what I meant. I just mean she's not everything."

"You're right. But that's part of why I'm not ready. I loved her a lot."

"Loved?" Caroline asked, noticing the use of past tense. That she didn't expect.

"I knew for months that she didn't love me." Stefan said, without anger or resentment.

"Then why didn't you-"

"Why didn't I just end things?" Stefan finished her question. Caroline nodded. "Because it's easier this way. Because as much as I love Elena, I also know her really well."

"What do you mean?"

"If I had ended things before she was ready, she would have missed me. This way, there's a clean break. And she really seems to want Damon."

Caroline snorted. "She only wants him because she couldn't have him. If you were to start dating someone else, she'd been on you like that," Caroline snapped her fingers.

Stefan closed his eyes and sighed. "Elena isn't as bad as you're making her out to be. She's just human. And in love." Caroline nearly slapped herself. He was in love with her still, he didn't need her to bash the girl he was pining over.

Caroline just looked at Stefan and realized that Elena wasn't the only one in love. She gulped. "Okay, enough of this. We're going to go do something fun!"

Stefan opened his eyes and just stared at her. Typical Caroline, flitting from one place to another in mere seconds. He smiled. He was grateful for that, actually. "Where to?"

"I have an idea," Caroline practically proclaimed. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, giggling as she led him to their destination.

XXXX

_A few weeks later_

Bonnie sighed. She didn't know what to do. Too many things had changed in her life in too short a period of time for her to adjust. Tyler and Jeremy had feelings for each other, Elena was dating Damon, and Bonnie just felt . . . well . . .

Bonnie just felt sort of alone.

Caroline wasn't answering her messages, and when Bonnie had stopped by her house, she hadn't been there. Stefan wasn't responding either though, so she went to hunt him down in person.

_Please not let Damon and Elena be there. _She sighed and knocked on the door.

"Oh, Bon Bon. Are you looking for Stefan? He's out with Caroline. Again." Damon smirked at her.

Bonnie plastered a smile on her face, "In fact I was. Thanks, bye." She did an about face and started to walk down the steps when Damon grabbed her arm. She turned around to bite out an angry retort when she felt . . . something strange.

She lost her words and just stared up at him.

"What's going on Damon?"

Damon looked down at his hand on her arm and dropped it. "Nothing that's your business."

"You just grabbed me, so I think it is. And that-what was that?" Bonnie asked, trying to seem confident instead of incredibly shaken.

Damon just hid behind his patented smirk."That was a sample of my amazing ability to stir . . . " he twirled his finger around in the air, "heat within any woman."

Bonnie raised and eyebrow. He held her gaze.

He didn't expect what came next, even though he was watching carefully for a sign of something like it.

She lifted her hand and snapped her fingers, throwing a magical punch.

"Ow. That wasn't nice." Damon grasped his head in pain.

"Neither are you." Bonnie said with more confidence than she felt and spun around on her heel. She needed to get away from him. A few feet away from the house she turned back to face him. He was just standing there, staring after her. "If you see Elena before I do, tell her I need to speak to her."

"Why don't you tell her yourself?" Damon asked curiously.

Bonnie _humphed_. "Just tell her, Damon." And she turned.

He watched her until she disappeared behind something that obscured his view of her. Then he listened. Her heartbeat was racing abnormally fast.

Odd.

XXXX

Bonnie rushed to find Elena she tried to calm down.

That had been strange.

When he'd touched her she'd felt . . . something.

First, she'd felt unhappiness. And that didn't make sense at all. Damon was in love with Elena, and now he had her. He should be _happy_.

But she could feel his dissatisfaction, his regret over hurting Stefan, and then there had been something completely different.

She'd touched him before, but this time had been different.

She was getting stronger in terms of her powers, yes, but he'd also had his guard down.

So she'd felt . . . a spark.

A _tingle. _

She hadn't felt a tingle in a really, really long time.

She refused, simply _refused_, to call it attraction. Because that couldn't, wouldn't, definitely was not it.

It wasn't.

But it was something strange. Almost a sort of understanding, maybe something akin to sympathy.

It wasn't actually sympathy, but Bonnie let herself believe it anyway.

XXXX

"I can't believe you told her," Jeremy hissed at Tyler. "Why the hell would you do that?"

Tyler's face fell completely. "I needed someone to talk to. What, did you want me to tell Matt or something?" Because that would have been much, much worse. Bonnie was obviously the superior choice.

"I didn't want you to tell anyone."

"It's not just about you." Tyler replied.

Jeremy swallowed hard. "I know. And I'm sorry. But we can't-I can't do this right now."

Tyler just stared at him. "What exactly can't you do?" Tyler didn't even notice his body drifting slightly closer to Jeremy's.

But Jeremy did. He stepped back. "This, Tyler."

"What is _this? _Do you know? Because I sure as hell don't." Tyler practically yelled, burying his hand in his hair.

He started to pace, trying not to look at Jeremy. "All I know is that I can't stop thinking about that night."

"Don't." It was all Jeremy could say.

Tyler didn't stop. "And whether I'm around you or not, I want to do it again." Tyler stopped pacing for a moment, "I think I might . . . want you. I feel . . . more."

Tyler realized what he'd said and just sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't meant to get upset, but I just-"

While Tyler had stopped looking at Jeremy he hadn't noticed that Jeremy had been drifting closer to him. When he'd revealed that he wanted him, a strange look had crossed his face and he'd taken the opportunity to close the distance between them and kiss Tyler, cutting off his stream of words.

For a short moment they melted into each other, letting the rest of the world seemingly fall away.

"What's going on here?" Until they were interrupted, of course, by Elena coming down the stairs.

Tyler and Jeremy pulled away from each other, each sporting a dazed sort of expression.

"What were you just doing?" Elena asked, more than a little shocked.

"We were, um . . . " Jeremy started to explain, then saw the look on Tyler's face and stopped. He zoned out for a moment, getting lost in Tyler's gaze.

Elena quickly shook him out of it, walking up and grabbing his arm. "Jeremy, what are you doing? Really, Tyler? Of all people? And you're not gay, what's going on?" Elena turned to Tyler, "This is your fault, isn't it?"

Tyler just looked at her as if he didn't know what to say, which he didn't.

"Explain yourself." Elena commanded him. She was nothing if not ruthlessly defensive of her brother. Except, you know, that she was dating a guy who had once almost killed him. But that was in the past, she assured herself. Damon wasn't that guy anymore. He was better. He'd changed for her, because he loved her.

But that was beside the point. Tyler shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

Jeremy looked at Tyler, waiting for him to give some sort of explanation. Upon realizing that he wouldn't, his expression hardened. "He was just leaving."

"He better be, because I don't want him anywhere near you, he's obviously just confusing you." Elena gave Tyler a firm look, "Please leave, Tyler. And stay away from my brother."

Tyler looked to Jeremy, and watched as he looked away. Jeremy wanted him to leave, Tyler realized.

He felt a pang in his-he wouldn't say heart. "Fine," and he turned around, pausing before opening the door to look back at the siblings.

Elena gave him a look that demanded he turn around, open the door, and get the hell out of her house.

Jeremy finally looked, but only as Tyler had already turned back and opened the door to a ready-to-knock Bonnie. She looked at him in surprise, "Tyler, hey." Tyler nodded at her before rushing off, not even bothering to say goodbye.

Bonnie turned to watch him leave. As she saw him get into his car, she turned back towards Elena and Jeremy. "May I come in?"

Elena plastered on a fake smile, "Of course."

Bonnie stepped in carefully, looking at Jeremy. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Elena answered for him. "I handled it."

"Obviously there's a problem if it was something you had to 'handle.'" Bonnie turned toward Elena. "What's going on here?"

"I caught them kissing. And I don't like to see Tyler toying with Jeremy's emotions again. He's just being a douche."

Bonnie looked at Elena as if she'd never seen her before. "What happened to you, Elena?"

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked, more than a little offended. "I was just taking care of my brother."

Bonnie turned away from Elena and towards Jeremy. She simply had nothing to say to that.

"Jeremy, are you okay?"

"He's fine," Elena said, exasperated.

"Jeremy," Bonnie asked pointedly, "Are you okay?"

Jeremy met her eyes.

Ah. Bonnie stepped forward and gave him a quick and tight hug. "We'll talk later, okay?" She whispered, only loud enough so that he could hear her.

"Thanks," he said back softly.

Bonnie pulled away.

"So why are you here anyway?" Elena asked.

"I needed a friend. But it doesn't matter. I'll talk to you later." Bonnie shot Jeremy one last look and left the Gilberts alone in their thoughts.

XXXX

Update up tomorrow!


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry this didn't get up when I wanted it to. I literally fell asleep with my head next to my laptop. Hehe. Anyways, I disclaim!

XXXXXX

Jeremy sighed and sipped a drink of his water. He sat in the little café—one he'd never been to, chosen specifically so that no one would overhear sensitive information or intrude on the conversation he was about to have with Bonnie.

"Jeremy, hey." Bonnie slipped in across from him, setting her bag down next to her and taking off her sweater. "Thanks for meeting me here."

Jeremy shrugged, "Yeah."

Bonnie placed her hand on the table and moved it on top of his. "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday with Elena and Tyler."

"So am I." Jeremy looked down into his drink, avoiding Bonnie's eyes.

"Jeremy, Elena was just overreacting."

"No, she's right."

Bonnie looked at Jeremy in surprise, "She's not. She doesn't get it. She doesn't know how either you or Tyler feel. She was just . . . " Bonnie trailed off, not wanting to insult Elena to her brother. "Confused. She has her own stuff to worry about, and she's just shifting her worries onto you."

Jeremy looked up at Bonnie, "She had a point."

"About what?" Bonnie asked as if she didn't believe that at all, which she didn't.

"Tyler. He does this to girls all the time, why would I be any different?" Jeremy asked, almost as if he wanted to be proven wrong.

Bonnie squeezed Jeremy's hand. "Because in choosing you, he already thinks he's risking a lot. Which means he really wants you, Jer. And I've seen the way he looks at you, I've never seen him look at any girl like that."

"Like what?"

"Like he wants to drown in you," Bonnie replied honestly.

Jeremy tried to hide his smile at that, "It's so complicated, Bonnie."

"No, it's not." Bonnie realized something, "It's love. We all care about you, and Elena will come around. The only people you really need to worry about are you and Tyler and how the two of you feel."

Jeremy's head started to fall down to the table and he buried his face in his hands. "What if—"

"Don't 'what if' me Jeremy. What ifs are for people who would rather regret a lifetime of bad choices instead of taking a single risk."

Jeremy lifted his head and met her eyes, "Will you help me, Bonnie? Talk to Elena, I mean."

"Of course," Bonnie smiled.

"Thank you."

"Of course," Bonnie squeezed his hand. "Now, lets eat. I'm starving."

Jeremy smiled at her, "You're a good friend, Bonnie."

XXXX

Caroline giggled as she watched Stefan bowl a strike. Lately, she'd been taking him to do random things—from feeding ducks at a pond to a picnic in the woods.

She was trying to comfort him, and she was also having a lot of fun.

She respected, liked, and truly cared about Stefan, and believed that he deserved to be happy. And, frankly, he wasn't going to be happy any time soon if he continued to pine over Elena.

He'd said that he was fine, that he was moving on slowly but surely, but Caroline wanted to make sure of that. She'd been tag teaming with Bonnie to make sure he didn't spend too much time alone. And, just a little, Caroline had been trying to shift the 'responsibility' away from Bonnie and towards herself.

Because, honestly, she was lonely. Sure, she had Bonnie—but Bonnie was under a lot of stress, she'd seemed to have started to take the weight of the world on her shoulders, and although she would have been there for Caroline had she only asked, she didn't want to put that kind of pressure on her best friend. So, instead, she had Stefan.

He was like a pet project. A very cute pet project, she thought fleetingly. She pushed the thought immediately out of her head. Yeah, thinking things like that would only end in unhappiness.

She cared about him. As a _friend._ And that's all they would ever be.

She felt her smile falter. He turned back towards her, smiling brightly. She forced her smile back onto her face. She could do this. For him. Because what she really wanted to do was keep spending time with him, and make sure that he understood that he didn't have to feel alone.

Stefan walked back towards her and sat down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just a little, um, out of it."

"Can I help you get back in it?" Stefan asked, concerned.

Caroline felt a real smile form on her face. "No, it's fine. Anyway, you've won again."

Stefan smiled, "You let me win."

"No I didn't." Caroline responded quickly.

"Yes, you did." Stefan gave her a look that dared her to disagree with him.

Caroline sighed, "Fine, you caught me. I let you win," Caroline proceeded to stick her tongue out immaturely at Stefan. "But next time I won't make it so easy on you."

"I'm looking forward to it," Stefan said, surprising Caroline with how much he seemed to mean it. "But I'll still win," Stefan smiled to cover up his own surprise at how much he truly enjoyed spending time with Caroline. There wasn't anything wrong with Caroline . . . she was just Caroline.

Caroline smirked, "Only in your dreams, Stefan. I was going easy on you, but next time I'll win."

Stefan merely lifted an eyebrow. "If you say so. So, um, are you busy this weekend?"

A look of surprise graced Caroline's face. "No, not really. Why?" It was odd, because she was always the one who made the overture. She was _always_ the one who suggested they hang out. This was different.

"I want to pay you back for being such a great friend and organizing all of these little adventures. Are you in?"

"For what?" Caroline asked cautiously.

"It's a secret. And if I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it?" Stefan smiled secretively.

Caroline narrowed her eyes, "Should I be worried?"

Stefan placed his hand on Caroline's shoulder, making her jump a little inside and looked into her eyes, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," Caroline replied immediately, without even having to think about it.

"Then wait and see, "Stefan said simply. "Just wait and see."

XXXX

Bonnie sighed. She'd offered to talk to Elena while Jeremy went off to discuss things with Tyler.

But first she needed to talk to Stefan, because sometimes Bonnie swore he understood Elena better than anyone else. It made sense, because they'd had a connection that had seemed almost magical.

Bonnie had texted Stefan to make sure that she could come over. She'd also been told by Jeremy that Damon and Elena were supposed to be out doing something before Elena came by in a while to visit Bonnie. It was careful timing, but it was worth it to avoid awkwardness.

Bonnie exchanged greetings with Stefan and entered the home. "Thanks, Stefan."

Stefan smiled, "No problem. You helped me out when I needed it, it's all I can do. Plus, you helped me with that thing."

Bonnie smiled. "That I did. Anyway, so . . . " Bonnie struggled to find the words to explain what she needed without giving away anyone's secrets. "When Elena is unreasonable, and you need her to see reason, what do you do? Because I usually just ignore her or argue with her until she sees reason, but I—well, this isn't about me. I need her to open her damn eyes."

Stefan smiled a small smile and quirked his head to the side. "Elena just needs prodding. Sometimes you have to be a bit confrontational."

Bonnie sighed, "I know. I was hoping you'd have a better idea of what to do than that. But thanks," Bonnie leaned forward to hug Stefan.

They squeezed, and then had the horrendous luck to be caught in that embrace when Elena and Damon walked in.

"Bonnie?" Elena seemed shocked.

Bonnie and Stefan pulled away from each other and looked at each other. Uh oh.

Bonnie turned toward Elena, "Hey, I thought you and Damon were hanging out before we got together."

Elena just narrowed her eyes, "Yeah, we were. But then we got bored, so we came back."

"From doing what, exactly?" Bonnie asked, trying to shift the conversation away from the fact that she was seemingly sidling up to her close friend' ex. Which, by the way, was not what she was doing, she was only being a good friend. Obviously.

"Just walking around," Elena answered.

Bonnie looked at Damon, who was apparently trying not to make eye contact with his brother, which was actually fairly easy because Stefan was staring at Bonnie. Damon just shrugged.

"Well, I should go," Bonnie said. "Coming with Elena? Or will I just see you later?"

Elena just stared at Bonnie for a moment, "Are we really pretending that that didn't just happen?"

Bonnie blinked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Were you after him before we broke up? Is that why you let go so easily?" Elena asked accusingly, turning to Stefan.

Stefan looked at Elena in shock, as if he'd never quite seen her before. No one was really paying attention to him, but Damon had a look of similar shock on his face.

"How dare you?" Bonnie just looked at Elena. "When did you become such a bitch?"

A look of utter shock passed her face. "Excuse me, Bonnie?"

"That's enough, Bonnie," Stefan said softly.

Damon looked back and forth between Bonnie and Stefan and felt a weird sort of feeling. "What, are you her knight in shining armor now, brother?"

Bonnie snorted, "What is wrong with you? We were just being friendly. I'm sorry I even bothered."

Bonnie started to stalk out of the room when Damon grabbed her arm. She stared at him angrily. She pulled away and continued walking, and left Elena and Stefan alone.

Stefan looked over to her. "That wasn't fair, Elena."

Elena looked at him in surprise, "I have the right to be angry if my best friend was coming on to my boyfriend."

Stefan merely lifted an eyebrow, "You know she'd never do that. And you need to calm down. I don't know what's happened to you lately, but I don't think it's a good thing." Stefan sighed.

Elena just sputtered.

Stefan smiled humorlessly. "That's why it was so easy to let you go, Elena. You're not the girl I fell in love with anymore."

At that, he left her alone with her thoughts.

XXXX

Bonnie managed to get out of the house before she felt Damon appear in front of her. She stopped, hugging herself tightly. "What?" She asked, almost rudely, but she really didn't care.

"Even if Stefan happened to be ready for a new relationship, he's not ready for one with you."

Bonnie stared at Damon. "Your point being?"

Damon sighed, "He's been spending a lot of time with Caroline . . . "

Bonnie held up a hand, "Look, I'm not interested in Stefan that way. Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I'd hate to see you fall in love with him."

"Why?"

"Because you'd only end up with a broken heart."

"Why do you care?"

Damon shifted awkwardly. "I don't."

"Okay then."

"Fine."

They just stared at each other for a moment, keeping an intense eye contact that almost seemed to fall into staring-contest territory.

"He's not right for you anyway."

Bonnie just blinked, "Um, okay then. I don't think you really have the right to tell me whether or not someone is right or wrong for me."

Damon sighed.

For some reason that made Bonnie angry, as if somehow him sighing at her meant something. Bonnie narrowed her eyes, "Are you trying to imply that I'm not good enough for your brother?"

Damon just looked at her, "No, of course not."

Bonnie glared him, That's kind of what it sounded like. You telling me that he's not right for me, that he wouldn't want me even if he were ready for a relationship."

"Bonnie," Damon stepped forward and placed his hand on her cheek, moving it away quickly when he something akin to an electric shock, "Both you and my brother deserve more. You know as well as I do that you just don't fit together."

Bonnie shook her head, "Whatever." She pulled away. She was done with this nonsense.

Damon's hand lowered and grabbed hers. Upon realizing that he grabbed hers he felt a bit of a spark and dropped it. "I wasn't trying to offend you."

Bonnie just smirked, "First off, you don't have to try. And secondly, why did you let Elena turn you into such a shadow of who you used to be?" Bonnie knew she was being unfair, but she couldn't seem to help herself. Damon brought out the worst of her. At that Bonnie just spun on her heel and started to walk away.

Damon quickly caught up with her, standing in front of her. "What are you talking about?"

"You, Damon. You've let Elena change you."

"Isn't that what being in love is supposed to do? Make you a better person?"

"Not when it changes who you are, when all you're doing is ignoring how you really feel to adapt to someone's ridiculous standards of behavior."

With that Bonnie just raised an eyebrow, implying that he should just move out of her way. He did, turning around to watch her go.

He felt Elena move up beside him. "What was that about?"

Damon turned to her, "Nothing important."

"Are you sure? Because Bonnie's been a bit bitchy lately." Elena said with more heat than Damon had expected from her.

Damon blinked, trying to process what she'd just said. "You're friends, Elena. You'll get over it, but leave me out of it."

Elena crossed her arms in front of her and almost seemed to pout, "She and Stefan are ganging up on me, it's so weird. Everyone keeps treating me like I'm being selfish. I'm just trying to do the right thing."

Damon quirked his head to the side and just looked at her for a moment before speaking, "I know, Elena. But maybe you need to step back and take a time to think about why people feel that way. And I don't think you can do that with me. I think . . . I think we should end this."

Elena stared at him in shock. "You want to end _us?_"

"I'm not exactly the best influence on you." He refrained from stating the obvious, that they also didn't have anything in common.

Elena just stared at him, "I thought you'd changed. But you just callously broke things off with me, I can't believe you."

"I'm only doing it because I care about you."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why should we end things? Give me one good reason."

Damon smiled sadly, "Because you're better than this. You've spent so much time trying to defend our relationship, that not only do we not have an actual relationship, but you've alientated most of your friends, and your brother."

"Jeremy? What are you talking about?"

"Exactly. You don't even realize it. This isn't you, Elena. You used to be better than this."

"I'm exactly the way I've always been, Damon." Elena just looked at him, shocked that this was happening.

Damon seemed to realize something, "Then maybe we really shouldn't be together. Because I don't know you."

"You said you loved me," Elena said quietly, "Was that a lie?"

Damon placed his hand on Elena's cheek, and felt something very different than when he'd just done the same thing with Bonnie a few minutes prior. "I thought I did. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I was only in love with the idea of you."

Elena felt a tear escape from the corner of her eye. Damon wiped it away. "Are we still friends?"

"Were we ever?"

"Yes, I think," Elena replied as if it were an inane question.

"Then we are." Damon said before taking her hand in his. "I"ll take you home."

"I think I need to do some thinking," Elena pulled her hand out of his. "Thanks anyway."

"You'll be fine, Elena."

"I know. But you'll regret this."

"No, I won't."

Elena started at that and turned around and started off.

Damon watched her leave, and knew he was right.

XXXXXX

Up next: cute Stefan/Caroline, some Tyler/Jeremy, and Bonnie/Damon and Bonnie/Elena conversations.


	5. Chapter 5

Originally I wasn't going to post before I went to sleep, but a few of my twitterpeeps bugged me enough that I did anyway. I hope you like reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it. I disclaim!

XXXXXX

Caroline wanted to see what was going on badly. But Stefan had placed a thick, dark scarf over her eyes and was leading her to wherever they were going.

It was horribly sweet that he was going to the trouble of blindfolding her, but horribly annoying.

When he'd first suggested the blindfold she'd smirked at him, "Kinky, huh?"

He'd merely smiled and lifted up the scarf.

That had been a while ago though, and now she really, really wanted to know where they were going.

"Are we almost there?" she asked, fighting to keep a slight whine out of her voice.

She felt him behind her, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "Almost. Patience, Caroline." Caroline could feel his smile, and couldn't help but smile in response.

Caroline felt him guide her towards what felt like a clearing, because they'd obviously been walking through trees at some point. "Are we there?"

"Yes." Stefan unwrapped the scarf and turned her around to face him. She smiled at him nervously. Stefan fixed the scarf around her neck. "Is that okay?"

Caroline nodded, "Yeah. So what are we doing here?"

Stefan turned her around again, his arms on hers as she looked out at the clearing.

"Oh my God."

"I'd hoped you like it." Stefan smiled, not quite smugly, but happily.

Caroline looked at the set-up: she saw a picnic blanket, and could see her favorite things. She looked up at the sky. "This is gorgeous."

"There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, and I thought you'd like to watch it." Stefan suddenly seemed nervous. "Unless that's overstepping a boundary or something." He buried a hand in his hair, "I should have asked, I'm sorry."

Caroline stepped close to him and leaned in to kiss his cheek, "No, it's lovely. It's just kind of, um, romantic. And that's just a little awkward."

Stefan smiled, "Sorry."

Caroline smiled in response and grabbed his hands with hers. "No, thank you. It's lovely."

They both sat down and lay back on the ground, staring up at the stars.

"I didn't want to do this alone, and I thought you'd like it."

Caroline smiled, "Thanks for thinking of me."

Caroline felt Stefan's hand move on the blanket toward her own and hesitate. She flipped her hand over and he placed his hand in hers.

They both smiled, looking up at the stars. Stefan squeezed, and Caroline squeezed back, turning towards him and smiling before looking back towards the sky.

"This is gorgeous," Caroline whispered softly.

Stefan turned slightly towards her and agreed, "Absolutely beautiful."

XXXX

Jeremy knocked nervously on Tyler's door. Tyler responded immediately and nervously. He smiled awkwardly, "I was, um, waiting for you."

Jeremy smiled back, "I can see that."

"How about we, um, stay outside and talk?" Tyler asked nervously, shutting the door behind himself without waiting for an answer.

Jeremy felt his face fall. He didn't want to be with someone who was ashamed of him. If Tyler couldn't even bear to have him around his mother, in his home then . . . "This was a bad idea."

Tyler turned to look at him. "What? No, come on." Tyler grabbed his hand, pulling him along to a random place and stopping suddenly when they were out of sight of the Lockwood house. "Isn't it amazing?"

Jeremy looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "What are you talking about? You mean how you're ashamed of us? Yeah, real amazing."

Tyler looked at him in surprise. "I'm not ashamed of you. And there's . . . not even an _us."_

Jeremy sighed and turned away, "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about."

Tyler grabbed Jeremy's arm, spinning him around, practically in his arms. "Jer, no. I just meant that we need to figure out if there's even an _us_ to worry about."

Jeremy looked into Tyler's eyes, "Do you want there to be?"

Tyler smiled and said softly, "Yeah, that's why I brought you here."

"Where's here? Why?" Jeremy looked around. "I don't see anything special."

Tyler cupped Jeremy's face and tilted his chin up. "At the sky, doofus," Tyler said fondly.

Jeremy looked up, "It's really clear tonight."

Tyler sighed, "Just wait, Jeremy." Tyler positioned himself standing next to Jeremy, looking up at the sky.

"What are we waiting for?"

Tyler looked at him, obviously amused by his impatience. "Let's sit down and wait." Tyler plopped himself on the ground and looked up, waiting for Jeremy to do the same.

Jeremy hesitated, and sat down.

They were sitting mere inches from each other when the shower started. "Wow."

Tyler turned to Jeremy and smirked, "Yeah, wow." He sidled up to Jeremy and his arm somehow ended up around Jeremy's shoulders.

And Jeremy just so happened to lean into him.

And it was all completely coincidental.

Not.

XXXX

Bonnie sighed and looked up at the sky. She'd suggested to both Tyler and Stefan that they treat Jeremy and Caroline, respectively, to the meteor shower.

She knew Tyler had been looking for some sort of romantic gesture, but she'd been surprised by Stefan. He really didn't seem to realize that he was starting to truly care for Caroline. Bonnie felt herself smile. Finally, she had some breathing room from all of this unnecessary drama.

Sure, she still had to fix things with Elena . . . but she was beginning to wonder if that's what she really wanted. Maybe this time Elena should apologize, because Bonnie was tired of it all.

Just really, really tired.

She sighed, leaning back and looking up at the stars. She felt herself begin to drift off and fall asleep.

XXXX

Elena was annoyed, and felt more than a little guilty.

She felt like everything in her life had just washed down the drain.

She was disappointed to see herself sink back into a version of herself she'd thought she'd exorcised. She didn't like that girl, and she was becoming her again.

She hadn't even realized it, and she'd been assuring herself that she was only following her heart. Elena sighed. Love wasn't everything, no matter how much she seemed to wish that were the case.

She felt terrible now. Bonnie and Caroline were furious with her, Jeremy was apparently in need of his big sister—who wasn't actually paying attention to how he was feeling, but was trying to control his life anyway. And Damon had just ended things with her, and everyone seemed to think she was just a huge bitch.

Elena, for the first time in a really long time, seemed to be able to see herself clearly. And she didn't like what she saw.

She knew that she'd overheard Stefan mentioning to Damon where he was going tonight, so all she needed to do was find him.

Because upon realizing what a raging bitch she'd been, she'd also realized that she missed Stefan. A lot. He was sweet and romantic, and he made her happy. He loved her, she knew he did. And when she was with him, she didn't have to force conversation, like with Damon. She didn't have to worry, because he loved her.

She got through the trees and saw the clearing she was looking for and smiled. As soon as she realized that Stefan wasn't alone she felt her smile disappear.

And she felt the raging bitch reappear.

She stalked over to the two of them, laying lovey dovily on a _blanket._ For some reason that really infuriated her, and she thought, unfairly, that it _should have been her with him._

The two of them jumped up before she got much closer to them. Damn them and their vampirey powers. She felt a shot of jealousy.

"What's going on here?" Elena asked, obviously angry.

"Elena, what are you doing here?" Stefan asked, obviously ignoring her question in favor of his own.

Caroline looked between Stefan and Elena and felt her heart sink.

"My question first, Stefan. What are you doing now? Trying to ignore how much you miss me by dating all of my female friends?" Elena regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, but she couldn't seem to contain her fury_._

"Elena—"

Caroline turned to Stefan, "What is she talking about, dating all of her friends?"

Stefan turned to her, "I have no idea. She saw me with Bonnie and jumped to conclusions."

Caroline felt her heart squeeze painfully. "Oh."

Elena smiled, not-so-nicely. "You were hugging, it seemed really _friendly_. And this—" Elena waved her hand around, "Seems romantic."

"We're just friends, Elena." Caroline cut in.

Stefan took things from there, "And you do realize that you're the one who broke up with me? You don't get to be jealous. Where's Damon? Why don't you just go spend your time with him."

"We ended things." Elena replied simply. "We realized we weren't well-suited. But that's not the point."

Caroline couldn't even tell if she'd heard a hint of jealousy in Stefan's voice as he referred to his brother, but it didn't matter: she was done. "I think I should leave," Caroline said, close to tears.

Elena just looked at her, "You probably should. Sucks to be the rebound. Again, too."

Caroline stared at the girl who she'd often went between loving and hating within seconds and realized she'd never hated her more.

She felt anger building within her and stepped forward, slapping Elena just hard enough to hurt her, trying not to snap her head off while she was at it. "You, Elena, will never understand what it's like to be loved. All you ever do is push people away, and I hope that one day you end up as alone as you deserve to be."

Elena felt herself smirk, "And yet, I'm the one who is rarely alone. I wonder why that is."

Caroline refused to cry in front of Elena. So she smiled, "I don't know, Elena. Maybe because you're usually so much better at not showing everyone the selfish, horrid bitch that you are." Caroline stepped backward, "But I'm done with you and your drama." She turned to Stefan, "I hope you enjoy her. You know she only wants you because she thinks someone else was getting you, and because Damon doesn't want her anymore." Caroline turned to leave, then sighed.

Caroline turned back, because the last thing she wanted to do was lash out at Stefan. "Stefan, I'm sorry. That wasn't fair of me. But I—I hope she makes you happy." She turned to Elena, "And I hope you end up miserable."

Caroline ran off quickly at that, disappearing in seconds from Elena's sight.

Elena turned to Stefan and smiled, "Stefan, hi."

Stefan looked at her like he was completely disgusted. "Why did you just do that?"

Elena felt her smile falter, "She started it."

"No, she didn't. And even if she did . . . I can't believe you would say those things."

Elena looked at him in confusion, "I don't understand why everyone lately seems so shocked by my choices." She sighed, "It's like you all don't know me at all."

Stefan looked her right in the eye, "I don't. And I—I don't know what happened to you, Elena, but like I said before, you're not the girl I fell in love with. And even if you were . . . I've moved on."

Elena closed her eyes and felt a tear escape her eye. Stefan leaned forward and wiped it away, "Elena, don't cry. But see if you can find her. Find that girl, because someone will love her." He sighed, "It just won't be me." He stepped back and disappeared.

Elena tasted a saltiness and realized she was fully crying. She sunk to the ground and let the tears fall freely.

XXXX

Bonnie felt herself being shaken awake. She opened her eyes to see the person she'd least expected. "Damon?"

"Yes, Damon. What the hell are you doing out here so late? And you just . . . fell asleep!" Damon seemed outraged. "What exactly was going through your mind? Oh, let's see if I can get hurt tonight?"

Bonnie looked at him in surprise, sitting up and trying to stand up. She was still a bit tired though, so she needed the support Damon lent her, pulling her up and holding her steady. He looked into her eyes, "Well?" he asked expectantly.

"I was going to watch the meteor shower," Bonnie replied, still a bit groggy and confused. She looked up, "Hey, it's still going on. I must not have been asleep for very long."

Damon _humphed._ "Really, Bonnie. Would you like to explain why you were lying on the ground randomly asleep then?"

"I must have drifted off," Bonnie bit out defensively.

"Really?" Damon drawled. "Next time, why don't you try drifting off at home?"

"I can take care of myself."

"Really?" he stepped scarily close to her. "Let's see." He shocked her by lowering his head and kissing her. He tasted slightly of alcohol, and seemed even more reckless than usual.

She felt her entire body explode with . . . _lust_ and she gasped for air. She stood there in shock as he pulled away.

He seemed just as shocked as she was. She watched as he tried to shake himself free of the weird feeling that had just come over them both.

"You didn't stop me, so how are you supposed to stop someone with even worse intentions?" He asked.

"What did you do, steal that line from a movie?" Bonnie bit out, trying to ignore the electric feeling that was buzzing all around her body.

"It proved my point, didn't it?" Damon asked, softly.

"I don't even know," Bonnie replied honestly. "Elena's going to kill you."

"No, she won't."

Bonnie realized what that meant. "Well, um. I think I'll go home now." She turned around and started to walk away.

Damon ran up next to her. "I'll make sure that you get home safely."

"I don't need you."

"I know."

"You have to be quiet; I don't want to hear a peep out of you," Bonnie said sternly.

And she didn't hear another word from him, not even when he waved goodbye as she slammed the house door behind her and leaned against it, slinking down to the ground.

She buried her head in her hands. This . . . was not good.

XXXXXX

Okay. So that chapter actually kind of surprised me. Review?


	6. Chapter 6

Well, chapter six already. Shocking. I disclaim. Thanks to all who have put this story into their favorites or on alert, it means a lot. Also, to all who have reviewed: you are a major reason I keep writing. Thank you.

XXXXXX

The next day, Bonnie was expecting visitors. When by noon none of the people she'd expected had shown up, she realized that, indeed, they needed her to go to them. She wanted to assume that everything had gone perfectly on the "dates" she'd orchestrated, but she didn't actually believe that to be the case without proof.

So, in the meantime she was going to hunt her friends down to make sure that everything had gone smoothly.

And, if it just so happened that by providing such friendly services she could avoid thinking about . . . her indiscretion the night before, then hey, she'd take it.

She really didn't want to think about it, but she felt like it was tattooed in her memory, she couldn't _not_ think about the kiss. _The freaking kiss_. She'd stayed up all night, desperately trying to fall asleep, but unable to until she'd given up and brewed herself some sleeping tea.

She'd still woken up early, and had treated herself to a cold shower—just to numb herself and stop the tingling that was still making her feel like she was on fire. It was intense, and scary. And weird.

So she was numbing herself, and attempting to focus on anything other than that.

XXXX

Bonnie looked at Caroline and almost wanted to join in on her crying. Her original intention had been to visit Caroline and report back to Stefan—who _also_ wasn't responding to her text messages, and she was beginning to wonder if the night before had been some sort of torturous exercise in life's unfairness.

Bonnie stepped in quickly and shut the door behind her. "What happened?" Bonnie asked, concerned.

"I—things were going well. We were, you know, hanging out, but then . . . " Caroline burst into tears. "Elena."

Bonnie felt a bit of anger beginning to build within her. "Elena?"

"She showed up, and we both said pretty awful things. But then . . . she wants him back. So I just left. I don't need that in my life." Caroline said, almost as if she believed it.

Bonnie didn't though, because she was pretty damn sure that Caroline rather _wanted_ Stefan in her life. They'd become close recently, and Bonnie could tell they had less than platonic feelings for each other. She'd seen a bit of yearning in Caroline's eyes months before Elena and Stefan had ever broken up, though Caroline had never even made a slight romantic overture towards Stefan, choosing to respect his relationship with Elena.

Bonnie sighed. _Elena_. Why couldn't Elena do the same? Elena seemed to have just lost control of who she was. Bonnie missed the sweet girl she knew Elena could be. Oblivious, yes. But sweet.

"You left them together?" Bonnie asked. She didn't want to believe that Stefan would just fall down and worship at the great Shrine of Elena, but there was always the chance that he would.

"Yeah. I think they're back together."

"Why?"

"She broke up with Damon, and Stefan's still in love with her. Why wouldn't they be?" Caroline asked, almost as if she wanted to be proven wrong.

"Maybe he's not as in love with her as you think, " Bonnie replied simply and kindly. She hugged Caroline close to her. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Caroline had never admitted how she felt about Stefan to anyone before, and she wasn't going to start now.

Bonnie closed her eyes and gathered her courage. It was time to rip off the damn band aid. "Because you love him."

Bonnie could feel Caroline stiffen in her arms and pull away. "Why . . . why would you say that?" Caroline started to pace a little, throwing her arms in the air as she attempted to deny Bonnie's claim. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Stefan and I are just really good friends. Almost like—" Caroline stopped herself and grimaced.

Bonnie tried to hide her smile. Caroline wasn't far enough in denial to say they were like brother and sister.

"Bonnie—" Caroline broke down and tears started to fall freely again. "What am I going to do if—"

"If they get back together?" Bonnie completed. She really didn't know what she would do. "They won't," Bonnie said with a confidence she didn't feel. "But even if they do, you'll be fine."

Caroline quickly closed to the distance between her and Bonnie and hugged her tightly. She cried into her friend's shoulder. "I think you might be right."

Bonnie sighed, "I know you, Caroline. You're in love with him."

"I—what do I do?"

"Fight for him," Bonnie was surprised to hear herself say. Then she realized that that was exactly what Caroline needed to do. "Don't play the game, don't fight with Elena. Just fight _for_ Stefan. Does that make sense?"

Caroline lifted her head and bit her lip. "Because it's not about Elena. It's about Stefan."

"Exactly," Bonnie placed her hand on her friend's cheek, smiling. She nudged away the tears with her thumb and tried to get Caroline's hair out of her eyes. "You'll be fine."

"How do I even—what do I do?" Caroline felt like a helpless child, like she didn't even know where to start. And a part of her believed that trying at all was futile. Stefan and Elena were . . . surprisingly perfect together. At least, they had been until they'd broken up.

Bonnie hesitated. "Start off by apologizing? You said you said some "awful" things."

Caroline quirked her head to the side, "I already apologized."

"Do it again. At least you'll have a reason to go and talk to him." Bonnie grabbed and squeezed her friend's hand. "But why don't you wait until I talk to him first? Let me feel him out a bit."

Caroline jumped at that,"Would you? That would be great."

Bonnie smiled, "Of course." She hugged Caroline. "Anything for you two."

"Thank you, Bonnie," Caroline whispered.

"Anytime."

XXXX

Damon threw his glass at the wall. He watched it shatter and grimaced. "I thought that would be more satisfying."

"What, throwing or breaking the glass?" Stefan asked, suddenly coming into the room.

Damon waited for Stefan to say something like, 'Oh, yeah. Elena and I are back together because as soon as you broke up with her she ran to me for comfort.' He also waited for some sort of regret or pain at that idea. He felt neither. "Is there a difference?"

Stefan smiled. "Yeah. Breaking the glass means you want to cause destruction, whereas the actual throwing of the glass is more about releasing aggression."

Damon just stared at his brother, lifting an eyebrow. "And you really felt the need to explain that to me?"

Stefan nodded. "Obviously. Anyway, so I heard you and Elena broke up."

_Here it comes._

"I'm sorry."

Damon looked at his brother in surprise. "Really? She didn't come running to you and throw herself at you?" Damon smirked, "I'm impressed."

Stefan hesitated. Damon felt a twinge of disappoint. Neither one of them ever seemed to learn their lesson. "I take it back."

"She was just . . . upset."

"And you being the lovely ex-boyfriend that you are, decided to ditch the blond to comfort her. Can't say I'm surprised."

"Damon, shut up." Stefan smiled to show that he wasn't actually upset. "You have no idea what you're talking about, as per usual."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Wow. I'm proud of you, brother. Finally, you got yourself a bit of a spine," Damon slapped his brother on the shoulder. "Good job. How did she take it?"

Stefan merely shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Damon. She doesn't need me right now. What she really needs is to find herself again."

Damon just looked at his brother, "Yeah. Because the Elena we're dealing with right now is kind of a raging bitch," he said in all seriousness.

He waited for a denial. It didn't come.

"She'll be fine," Stefan said again. "Anyway, I'm supposed to meet Bonnie—"

"Bonnie? Why are you meeting Bonnie?" Damon cleared his throat unnecessarily. "Is something wrong?"

Stefan looked at him as if he was acting awkwardly . . . which, well, he was. "She just wants to talk."

"You're really getting around, aren't you?" Damon heard himself say. "Sorry." Damon winced.

Stefan lifted an eyebrow. "She's a good friend, Damon. Something you'd know if you bothered to _be_ a friend."

"I try."

"No, you don't," Stefan replied almost immediately.

"No, I don't." Damon admitted. He thought carefully for a moment, "But maybe I should."

"Seriously?" Stefan asked, incredulous. "Wow."

"Don't seem so shocked, Stefan. Anyway, you should probably go talk to the witch. You wouldn't want to be late."

Stefan quirked his head to the side before leaving, "It's nice to see you back to your old self."

"What do you mean?"

"You were . . . different. It's nice to see that you're still Damon . . . but maybe a bit more, I don't know, _open_ maybe?" Stefan shook his head. "Bye."

"Hey, see if Bonnie's still angry with me," Damon felt himself say without meaning to. Wow. He was like a nervous schoolboy. He would have slapped himself, but he rather thought that would cause more questions on the part of Stefan, to which he had few answers.

"Why would she be angry with you?" Stefan asked curiously.

"She's _always _angry at me," Damon replied. "You know that."

Stefan just stared at him, slightly suspicious, before turning around and leaving.

XXXX

Elena was cried-out. She was done. She felt tired—but in her _soul_. She wanted to sink into the ground and take a nap for a few hundred years. Sleepy Beauty-esque.

She sighed. "Maybe that's a _little _melodramatic," she said softly to herself. "But maybe it's true."

She sat on her awkwardly shaped rock in the middle of the woods—where she was sure she wouldn't get interrupted—and almost fell over when she heard someone speak.

"Maybe what's true?"

Elena turned and felt a smile form. "Matt," he always had the power to make her smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking a walk. Just to, you know, think."

"I didn't know you often felt the need to take walks in order to 'think.'" Elena said in surprise.

Matt sat down on a rock next to her and turned to her. "Sometimes I do. Sometimes I just need to think."

"Deep thoughts?"

"Sometimes yes, sometimes not."

Elena felt her smile grow. "I get that."

Matt smiled. "Yeah. Everything's been so weird lately, you know?"

Elena nodded. "I know."

"Tyler's been super weird, and I feel like all of the couples I know are playing some complex version of romantic square-dancing."

Elena laughed at that.

"That didn't make sense, did it?" Matt asked. "But it made you laugh, and that was my goal. What's wrong, Elena?"

Elena's smile disappeared. She felt Matt place his hand on hers in comfort. "Nothing."

"Only if nothing is the weight of the world." Matt looked into her eyes. "Tell me."

Elena felt herself tear up again. "I screwed up."

"What happened?"

"First I broke up with Stefan, which was a huge mistake. And I was dating Damon, and that was a mess. And then I've been this terrible person lately . . . "

"You're not a terrible person, Elena." Matt tried to assure her.

"Yeah, I am. I told Caroline that she'd always be the rebound, and that no one would ever just love her."

Elena waited for Matt to pull away, but he didn't. "That was a bitch move, Elena."

Elena felt her heart sink. "I know."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's weird. After everything with Katherine, things just . . . settled down. I guess I got restless. I just started to feel . . . out of place. And one day I just thought that Damon would make me feel alive again. And in the meantime I just got so defensive and angry at everyone." Elena sighed.

"Elena, no one can make you feel alive. You need to be able to do that for yourself."

"I know." She did.

"What happens next?"

Elena thought carefully. "I don't know."

"Why don't you start with an apology?" Matt suggested.

Elena sighed. "I don't think—"

Matt interrupted, "Stop, Elena. Stop the self-pity. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're not the girl I used to love. Remember that girl?"

Elena smiled. "I do."

"Do you want to be her again?"

Elena thought carefully. "Actually, no. I want to be a better version of her, ideally."

"Then start now."

"But I—"

"Elena, do any of your friends want to speak to you right now?"

"No."

"Have you or have you not been a little evil lately?'

"Yeah."

"Elena, do you want to end up alone, just because you went through a bad patch?"

Elena sighed. "No. I miss—I miss Bonnie, and Caroline. I miss Jeremy, because he just won't talk to me. I've made a mess of things."

"And?" Matt asked expectantly.

"And I should start with apologies." Elena leaned over and kissed Matt on the cheek, "Thank you."

Matt smiled. "You're welcome. But, Elena. Whatever happens, don't let anyone, not even me, become a crutch. You have to do this because you want to. Because you want to be a better you."

Elena smiled sadly. "I know, Matt. Stefan, he, um, said some things last night. Caroline, Damon and Bonnie—they're all upset with me. And I had some time to think about it. I—I need to take a more active role in the world. I can't just keep being so passive aggressive. I need to—I need to be someone worth loving."

Matt moved a stray bit of hair out of her face, "You already are. You just have to be that girl, Elena. Don't be the kind of girl you don't even like."

Elena knew he was right. "Thank you."

"No problem."

XXXX

Stefan was slightly nervous to see Bonnie. Sure, he _liked_ Bonnie, and she was a great friend . . . but there might have been such a thing as too good of a friend. He didn't want to be bombarded with questions, or with criticism for how he let Caroline run off the night before.

He knew that he'd screwed up. Which was why, actually, he was surprised when Bonnie didn't demand answers or explanations and simply stared at him, eyebrow raised like a weapon.

Stefan smiled slightly, "I know."

"Really, do you? Because Caroline spent most of last night crying. At the first chance to get back with Elena, you bailed." Bonnie said.

"I know." Stefan said again.

Bonnie sighed at that. "You know how she feels. She never feels like she's anyone's first choice." Bonnie wasn't trying to judge, but she was anyway. She needed to see the extent of Stefan's feelings for Caroline—for both of their sakes.

"That's not true."

"It's how she feels, Stefan."

"I didn't choose Elena."

Bonnie smiled a bit inside. Well, at least there was that. "You may as well have."

"Bonnie. I'm not in love with Elena anymore."

"I'm not the one you have to convince of that."

Stefan stared at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Do you not even realize it?" Bonnie demanded an answer. Her glare indicated that there was no right answer to her question.

Stefan felt like the universe had stilled, waiting for his answer.

Finally, Stefan sighed. "I was afraid to. But now I'm afraid that if I don't . . . I'll be worse off."

There was no right answer to her question . . . except for that. She smiled. "Stop being afraid, Stefan," she chided gently.

Stefan didn't seem to know what to say, "That's a lot to ask."

"How do you feel about the alternative?" Meaning, not taking a chance, and having Caroline—and himself—be heartbroken.

"You're right," Stefan said simply. "I wouldn't like it."

"Because . . . ?"

"I think that's something I should say to her first."

Bonnie happily hugged him, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

In the midst of their hug, Bonnie and Stefan didn't even notice that they were being watched by Damon.

Who just so happened to feel a painful _pang_ in his heart at that moment. Because from his vantage point, their hug seemed a lot more than friendly.

And for some reason that bothered him, though he wasn't yet ready to admit why.

XXXXXX

Sadly, I have a really important paper due for a class, so you won't get an update out of me for a few days. Also, someone wanted to know how long this fic is going to be. The answer is that there are about three or four more chapters. But all of my chapters are pretty long, so at least there's that, right? Review? Also, I promise lots of Bamon for the last few chapters!


	7. Chapter 7

Happy day! *runs to eat pie* For all Americans-happy Thanksgiving! For everyone else-You should get in on this whole "being thankful and shoving oneself full of food in the name of a 'holiday.'" Okay, I'm kidding. Probably. Just ignore me and my happy mood-that happened to translate to a chapter. Enjoy!

XXXXXX

"Bonnie, I—"

"Not now. I just, can't." Bonnie didn't have time for Elena and her drama, she honestly didn't.

"I'm sorry," Elena said suddenly, shocking Bonnie out of her mental reverie.

Bonnie felt herself harden against her friend, "Why?" She had no intention of making this easy. If Elena wanted to apologize, she was going to have to _mean_ it.

"I've been . . . selfish, bitchy, unfair, and I've been a terrible friend," Elena—Bonnie noticed— had the decency to actually seem ashamed.

Bonnie merely raised an eyebrow, "And?"

"I—" Elena wrung her hands nervously. "I'm sorry."

"I don't really think I'm the person you need to be apologizing to." Bonnie said, trying not to indicate to Elena that she was already softening towards her.

"I know," Elena sighed, almost as if she felt real shame for how she'd been acting.

Bonnie wondered briefly if she were serious. And, if so, why? Why now? So she asked "Why now?"

"Why am I apologizing now?" Elena smiled softly to herself, "Someone pointed out to me that what I really feel right now . . . is alone. And I don't want to alienate everyone I care about just because I went through a really long PMS period."

Bonnie snorted, "Whatever you say."

"Bonnie—" Elena reached out to place a hand on her arm, "Please, give me a chance to prove to you that I'm really sorry and that I want to change."

Bonnie just stared at the girl who was her best friend, who meant so much to her, but lately hadn't been there for anyone. People were allowed to make mistakes, right? Bonnie wasn't sure what to say. "Well, good for you," she heard herself say. "But I think you should start with apologizing to those who you've hurt more than you've hurt me."

Elena hesitated, and dropped her hand her Bonnie. "I hurt you, Bonnie."

"You did. But I'm not the only one. If you want to show me that you've changed, start by fixing everything with everyone else. Until then . . . I have nothing to say to you." Bonnie turned away and walked away. It took everything she had to do so, but she needed to, even though it hurt to do it.

Because Bonnie was lonely. Sure, she had great friends, but she'd spent her time lately playing matchmaker and now she didn't . . . know how Tyler and Jeremy's date had gone. At that she perked up, ready to stop thinking about how she felt and ignore the odd sort of loneliness that had seemed to burrow its way into her.

XXXX

Stefan had intended to seek out Caroline as soon as he'd had the opportunity to do so, but then he just . . . hadn't known what to say. So he'd wimped out.

So when he'd gotten a message to meet her, he'd been nervous, but he'd also been excited. Because even though it had only been two days, he missed her.

It was kind of strange. She was quirky and fun, determined and sensitive, kind and fiercely devoted to those she loved. She was a little neurotic and at times scary . . . but he liked it. He liked how he felt when he was around her.

It was different from the way Elena made him feel—she'd always been a cross between too normal and, well, honestly a lot of stress. He'd loved her, yes, but trouble seemed to follow her around constantly, and when it didn't . . . it was harder for them to be together, actually. She was comfortable, while Caroline was just . . . weirdly energizing.

He should have ended things the moment he'd realized that, but he'd pretended that it didn't matter until he'd realized that she didn't love him anymore. Now, in fact, he knew that she had no idea who or what she wanted, and he was done.

He knew what he wanted. He was just, maybe, a little too afraid to go after it.

XXXX

Caroline sat nervously.

She was waiting for Stefan, and she didn't have the words to express how nervous she was. Terrified, scared, nervous.

She was in love with Stefan, and this was nerve-wracking. She hated _waiting._ She was a just _do it_ kind of person. She liked to plan things, she liked to be in control, and she liked to get things done.

But _this_—not only had she not planned it, but she also had to wait.

Not cool. It just made her even more nervous. She sighed and stood up from her seat. She was early, so she could leave, and no one would ever know that she'd been there. She could call Stefan—better yet text him. Yes, that.

Or maybe she could just ignore him and pretend that—"Stefan."

Stefan just stood there, smiling down at her nervously. He sat down across from her. "Hey."

"Hey." Caroline couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm glad you wanted to meet, because I honestly needed to stop putting this off."

Caroline frowned, "What are you talking—" Caroline was interrupted by a waistress coming by and setting down a notecard.

"Bonnie?" Stefan asked.

Caroline picked up the card and read it quickly, "Elena."

Stefan raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Apparently she's sorry." Caroline tried to hold in the snort she felt building up. Sure, she was sorry. And Caroline was going to run off to California in order to marry Bonnie.

Actually, that wasn't a bad idea—Caroline's odd train of thought was interrupted by Stefan placing his hand over hers. "Caroline—"

"Don't." Caroline pleaded. "Don't be sweet and touch my hand. Don't say anything. Unless you mean it."

Caroline watched Stefan carefully, waiting to see what he would do.

XXXX

Bonnie decided to walk. Because yes, she was that insane.

"Bonnie," Damon appeared next to her. She avoided eye contact with him, preferring instead to walk faster—realizing, of course, that he could keep up with her easily—so that she could get to Tyler's house quickly.

"Bonnie." Damon said again, this time a little more seriously. "I need to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to you. And if you want to talk about that . . . what happened," Bonnie felt a little flustered, and more than a little out of breath—both out of nervousness and the fact that she was practically running now—"Then I especially don't want to talk about it."

"Bonnie—"

"Stop doing that." Bonnie stopped in her tracks and whipped around quickly to stare at him, "Stop saying my name like that."

"Like what?" Damon asked, genuinely confused. Not only was this not going the way he wanted it to—though he frankly had no idea how he'd expected or wanted it to go—but she was kind of scaring him. Not in a terrified, loss of life or limb sort of way, but in a female, emotionally devastating kind of way.

Bonnie glared at him. "That way."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "Like you care, Damon."

"B—" Damon started to say until he saw a dark look beginning to form on her face, "I kissed you." He said instead, bluntly.

Bonnie, unprepared to have it put out into the world like that, was surprised. She looked around quickly, "Don't say things like that!" she whacked him with her hand. "Especially in public places." She just stared at him. She whacked him again for good measure and sighed. "Let's just pretend it didn't happen, can you do that?"

She wasn't quite sure that she could, but she was sure she could pretend that she was pretending it didn't happen.

She could do that.

"No."

But not if he wouldn't even try.

"Why not?" Bonnie demanded.

"Because I tried doing that. But I can't stop thinking about—" Bonnie held up a hand to stop him.

"Damon," Bonnie bit out his name, "No. You can't say something like that."

"It's true."

"Can't you just go back to being a jerk? I'd like that."

Damon smirked, "And women wonder why they always get stuck with dicks. They literally beg us to be mean to them."

Bonnie glared at him. She stepped forward and stared into his eyes, fury seeming to want to burst out of her at any moment. "Damon—"

Damon knew a hopeless situation when he saw one and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Bonnie."

"I—" Bonnie felt like she was on fire, like every nerve-ending on her body was just aching for . . . she leaned slightly, shocking herself and Damon and kissed him.

It was different from the first time. Because now she was arching up into him and her arms had wrapped themselves around his neck and she was, well _kissing him back_.

Or, if you wanted to be technical about it, he was kissing her back.

Regardless, this was different.

Bonnie pulled away, gasping for air and Damon nuzzled her neck. "That was bad."

"Probably."

Bonnie shook herself free of him, "That we can _definitely _pretend didn't happen."

"What, do you just hang out in 'I'm delusional Land' because I want to know how to find that place? You seem to really like it." Damon lifted an eyebrow—which was just about all he could do because he was still trying to process what had just happened.

"I—" Bonnie sighed, "Don't have time for this." Bonnie stalked off at that, leaving a surprised Damon staring after her.

XXXX

Tyler and Jeremy were not making out.

Okay, so they were.

Bonnie had been let in by Tyler's mother who had told her that "the boys" were just hanging out upstairs. She'd suggested that Bonnie knock on the door before going in. At that Bonnie realized that Tyler's mother knew, that she just didn't care, and was waiting for him to be comfortable enough to tell her.

So, yes, they were "hanging out." Bonnie had smiled at that. Yet still, when she knocked on Tyler's bedroom door, she was shocked at how much muttering and shuffling went on before the door opened and she saw them both there, a little breathless.

Tyler sighed in relief when he saw her, "Oh, Bonnie. Hey."

Bonnie smiled, genuinely glad to see them together, and apparently happy. "Hey. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not," Jeremy assured her, a silly grin on his face.

Bonnie felt a warmness inside her at that, "You two are horribly adorable."

Tyler and Jeremy looked at each other at that, sharing a smile.

"You two need to stop," Bonnie said sternly, smiling all the same. "Because there's a lot of sweetness in here, it's shocking you both haven't, you know, started a diabetes epidemic."

Tyler just drifted back over to Jeremy, sitting back down beside him on the bed, taking Jeremy's hand in his own. "Is this one of those, but at least you'll die happy kinds of things?" Tyler asked, _not_ looking at Jeremy, because he was incredibly aware of how corny that was.

"Yes." Jeremy answered, squeezing Tyler's hand.

"So you're okay?" Bonnie asked, teasingly.

"Yeah. We're taking it slowly—" Bonnie snorted and interrupted Tyler's answer.

"We are," Jeremy insisted.

Bonnie merely lifted an eyebrow. "If you say so."

Jeremy narrowed his eyes, "Anyway. Have you spoken to Elena yet? She's been texting me non-stop, but I've managed to get out of it and avoid her whenever I get the chance."

Bonnie sighed, feeling guilt creep up on her, "I think she wants to apologize."

"Really?" Jeremy seemed rather eager. Bonnie realized that he probably just missed his sister.

"I think so," Bonnie said kindly. "Anyway, I should go."

"You don't have to."

"I do," Bonnie smiled. "But that's okay. Um, have fun. But, you know, not too much," she watched with great pleasure as they both turned beet red.

"Hey, Bonnie?" Tyler called out as she started to twist the doorknob and leave.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Bonnie smiled, "I'm just glad it's worked out in the end," and she left, shutting the door behind her.

Jeremy turned to Tyler, "Do you think she's okay? She seems a little . . . "

"I don't know," Tyler said. "She's Bonnie though. She'll be fine. And if she isn't, we'll make sure she is."

XXXX

Caroline and Stefan stared at each other. Caroline wanted an answer to her question, but she didn't want to urge one if his silence was his answer.

So instead, Caroline broke the silence first, "I'm sorry for what I said the other night. It was unfair of me."

Stefan winced. "No, you had a point."

Caroline raised an eyebrow, "Did I?"

"You did," Stefan smiled briefly. He sighed, his smile disappeared. "But I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"For letting you go. For being too afraid to—" Stefan stopped and buried his hand into his hair nervously. "I need to start at the beginning."

"We have time," Caroline replied simply.

"My history is pretty awful."

"Yup." Caroline responded. "But under the circumstances, it makes sense."

"And it makes sense why no one would possibly want to be around me, and why they wouldn't want to . . . get close to me," Stefan continued.

Caroline grabbed his hand that wasn't nervously messing up his hair, "That's ridiculous, Stefan. You're lovable and sweet. You're a great friend," she defended him fiercely. "There's nothing wrong with you."

Stefan smiled at that, "Caroline," she let go of his hand and withdrew into herself again.

"Continue," was all she said.

"Elena and I—we were good together for a while."

Caroline knew that. She felt her heart do painful twisty gymnastics.

"But we're over."

"Are you really?" Caroline asked suddenly. "Because you still drop everything for her, and she's—" Caroline realized that she was being loud. She lowered her voice as she said, "You love her."

"_Loved_, Caroline." Stefan corrected her.

Caroline looked down at the stable in front of her at what had been carved in. She saw 'S+E' and "M+C" and realized that she and Elena had once carved those little lovey dovey things into that very table.

So awkward. Maybe it was a sign.

"Caroline, I've really enjoyed spending time with you lately."

Caroline didn't respond at that, as she let her index finger trace over the letters.

"And I know this isn't a lot to say, but it's the truth. I don't want to lead you on, but I also want to be honest." Stefan saw what she was looking at and took her hands gently in his, "Look at me Caroline."

She looked up, quickly drowning in his eyes, barely realizing as he kept speaking.

"I'm falling in love with you, Caroline."

"Well, that was fast," Caroline heard herself say. She realized that she'd just ruined the moment and tried to keep in her laughter.

"We've been spending together for a few months before that, Care. And we've been friends for a while. And I don't think it's fast at all. It feels natural." Stefan was mildly annoyed and attempting to justify his feelings, not recognizing that Caroline looked like she was about to start laughing.

He narrowed his eyes and took a moment to think. They met eyes again and both simultaneously broke out laughing.

They shook the table and decided to leave. They stood outside; off to the side where no one was around, just laughing as if they'd lost control of themselves. Which, in fact, they had.

Caroline stopped laughing first. She leaned against a wall with her eyes closed, "Is this one of those rom com moments where we realize we should just stay friends?"

Caroline felt Stefan appear in front of her and opened her eyes. "No," Stefan leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.

XXXX

Bonnie got back home and sighed deeply when she saw that both Elena and Damon were waiting for her. She stepped forward and glared at them both, "What is this?"

"I came to apologize—" Elena said.

"I told you to come back when you'd fixed things with everyone else." Bonnie reminded her, ignoring the feelings of guilt. Elena seemed like she were serious.

"I'm working on it. I set Stefan and Caroline up—" Both Damon and Bonnie stared at her in shock at that reveal. "And I'm headed over to see Tyler in a while. But then I saw Damon and I decided to apologize to him too, for, well, playing with his feelings."

Bonnie turned to look at Damon at that. "Well, good for him. That doesn't explain why you're both here."

"He reminded me about how I treated you, and I just," Elena stopped to clear a tear out of the side of her eye. She was crying, Bonnie realized. "I miss my best friend."

Bonnie sighed and stepped forward, wrapping Elena in her arms, "I know."

Damon merely watched them. "How sweet."

Elena pulled away to look at him and raised an eyebrow, "But that doesn't actually explain why you're here. Why?"

Damon awkwardly looked at Elena, then felt his eyes shift to Bonnie, "No reason."

"Then you can leave now," Bonnie practically demanded. "Bye."

Elena looked back and forth between them and was surprised by what she saw. "Oh. I never thought about that."

"You never thought about what?" Bonnie asked, confused.

"Nothing, Bonnie. Just something potentially amazing that I'd never even really thought of before."

"Oh." Bonnie and Damon both proceeded to look at her, even more confused.

"I have to go," Elena said suddenly. "I need to talk to Tyler, and I still have to hunt down Jeremy."

Bonnie winced, "You might find them together, don't—"

"Don't be a bitch, got it!" Elena finished, smiling. "I'm turning over a new leaf." At that she bounced down and went off on her "quest."

Bonnie and Damon just stared at each other. Suddenly Damon was right in front of her, inches away. He lifted his hand to her cheek, "Bonnie—"

"Do you really not get it? Making up with Elena makes me more likely to tell you to get the hell off my porch." Bonnie said, with more heat than she actually felt.

Damon's smile disappeared. He stroked the edge of her face with his thumb, softly.

Bonnie felt her breath intake sharply. "Damon."

He stopped and she sighed. He stepped back and waved. "I get it." And with that he disappeared.

She walked inside before sinking to the ground, leaning against the wall. "Damn it, Damon."


	8. Chapter 8

Self: What is this nonsense? A second chapter in a day? What blasphemy! I disclaim.

XXXXXX

Bonnie Bennett had just realized a sad, sad truth.

She'd run out of ice cream.

Yes, there may have been other things to worry about, and other things she'd realized—though, again, she was trying not to think about them—but the most important one was that she'd run out of ice cream.

This was a serious problem.

Bonnie sighed. She normally wasn't the type to drown her feelings—she meant annoyance—in food, let alone ice cream, but today she was making an exception. And she had also run out of the alcohol that she had managed to get her hands on.

It had been an entire week since she'd last seen Damon. In the meantime she'd seen the utter sweetness of Stefan and Caroline, and Jeremy and Tyler, and was occasionally in the company of an Elena who believed that for some reason she needed to inform Bonnie of how amazing Damon was.

It was strange though, because she'd also thought she'd seen a bit of romantically-tinged tension between Elena and Matt when she'd had lunch with them the other day.

Bonnie shook herself free of that thought. That was irrelevant. And she really didn't mind that it almost seemed like everything between her and Elena had gone back to the way it was before, because at least now Elena was more aware of the impact she had on other people, and was trying really hard to be a better person.

But, again, that was not a problem. The problem was the lack of ice cream. It wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't almost 3 a.m. Because, really, _now_ was not the time she wanted to run off to the store to find ice cream. Maybe she should call Elena and make her bring her ice cream.

Bonnie stopped to actually consider that.

Elena owed her, right?

XXXX

Twenty minutes later when Bonnie heard the doorbell ring she ran downstairs happily, praying for ice cream.

She opened the door, "You." And it was Damon.

He held up what were obviously multiple containers of ice cream.

Bonnie sighed. This was a serious dilemma. He had ice cream.

She briefly considered just taking the ice cream from him, but she was pretty sure that that wasn't going to happen. She glared at him, to see if he'd just hand it over.

He merely smiled.

She growled.

He smiled.

"Fine. Come in." Bonnie stepped backward, annoyed.

He stepped in, closing the door behind him. "You know when Elena called me saying you wanted ice cream, I thought she'd lost her mind. But obviously you do."

"Elena called you?" Bonnie asked, incredulous. "Bitch," she said to herself. She was going to get even with her at some point for this.

"Yes, and I thought she was wrong. But she'd said that you'd let me in. I would have been here a few minutes ago, but it took me some time to figure out which ice cream to get."

Bonnie just stared at him, "I don't really care, Damon. Hand it over." Bonnie grabbed the ice cream from him at that point, barely able to hold it all, and walked into the kitchen, not caring whether he followed her.

She grabbed her bowl, then looked at the flavors. "You know women well," and she grabbed the chocolate chip cookie dough. She looked back down at the bowl, then set it in the sink, opening up the container itself and stabbing a spoon into it, then setting in onto the counter.

She walked quickly to the fridge and opened up the freezer, shoving the rest of the ice cream into it, then leaning down to open the lower part, not noticing as Damon enjoyed the "view." She stood up with chocolate sauce and went back over to grab her ice cream before heading out into the living room and turning back on her movie, plopping back down on the couch.

Damon just followed weirdly, staring at her as if he were enraptured.

Bonnie just watched her movie—she was _Harry Potter_ marathoning. She'd gotten to the third before she'd run out of ice cream. Two minutes into her new container of ice cream she sighed.

Damon perked up, "What now?"

"I need you to switch the movie. Grab the _Goblet of Fire_." Bonnie stared at him expectantly.

Damon quirked his head to the side, "Are you saying that you had two minutes left of the movie, but that you stopped watching the movie because you ran out of ice cream?"

Bonnie just stared at him, "No. I was still watching it, but I paused it before I got up to answer the door."

"Oh." Damon felt rather, well, stupid now.

"Good job, Damon. Jumping to your freaking conclusions. You're really good at that." Bonnie bit out, in between bites of ice cream. She took a moment to savor a particularly amazing bite and moaned. She grabbed her chocolate and poured some more over her ice cream. She closed her eyes. This was awesome.

Damon just watched her, feeling increasingly awkward. And more than a little turned on.

"Well?" Bonnie asked finally, after giving Robert Pattinson's Cedric an odd look.

"Well what?" Damon asked, slightly mesmerized.

"I let you into my house. Talk, or leave."

"I thought you didn't want to talk."

"I thought you didn't want to talk," Bonnie repeated in a slightly mocking, childish voice. "Damon, that was fairly obvious. But if you're just going to just _stare_ at me, go away."

Damon decided at that moment to sit down under her harsh gaze.

Bonnie sighed at that, and wondered if she'd regret this later, because she was still feeling a crazy sugar high and her inhibitions were being fairly unhelpful in this situation. "Over here, Damon." She indicated the couch she was sitting on. "There's no reason to stay if you can't see the screen."

"But I've never actually gotten the whole H—"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow and sat down the ice cream in her laugh. "If you're about to say what I think you're about to say, then you need to sit yourself down and watch the movies."

Damon sat gingerly down on the couch, about two feet from Bonnie.

"We should probably start over." Bonnie thought out loud.

"I don't—" Damon paused. "Wait, how many movies are there?"

"Only six out on DVD so far. I can't believe you. I know you've read _Twilight_, but you haven't read or seen _Harry Potter?_ Shame."

"Bonnie—"

"Shame," Bonnie interrupted, a silly smile on her face. She reached over and dotted chocolate sauce on his nose, then leaned back to her original position.

Damon just stared at her as if she were insane. She was. "Are you okay, Bonnie?"

"A little drunk," Bonnie admitted, "And a little hyper."

Damon realized that she'd been drinking. Wow. He'd been so distracted that he hadn't noticed.

"So are we starting over or not?" Bonnie asked expectantly.

Damon realized that she—_they_—were on the fourth movie, and he therefore could get three extra movies out of her if he said yes. "Yes."

Bonnie motioned toward the TV and Damon realized that she wanted him to get up. He lifted an eyebrow. She sighed, "Fine," and concentrated to do it magically. "There we go."

"If you can do that, why didn't you before?"

Bonnie smirked, "First, I made you do it, which amused me. Secondly, because now I'm tired. And eventually I'm going to need more ice cream, but I'm not going to get up." Bonnie looked at him. "So when I finish this container, I expect you to get up, grab my brownies and more ice cream."

Damon just stared at her.

"Are you in, or are you out? You understand that if we start this, there's no going back. You have to watch them all, even if it's not tonight."

"I'm in," he heard himself say. He took off his jacket at that, deciding to get comfortable.

XXXX

A few hours later, Bonnie was asleep, and Damon decided to turn off the movies. He'd realized, quite quickly, that he could keep her to her promise. So he decided to go back in the movie a little before repausing. She wouldn't remember anyway. They'd gotten fairly close to the ending of _Chamber of Secrets_ and even though he was still rather curious about how exactly that kid Harry was going to manage to kill the basilisk . . . though he was pretty sure he'd be fine, because there were a bunch of movies left anyway . . .

So instead he went over the odd conversations he'd had with Bonnie. And he realized he knew now things he never would have gotten out of her otherwise.

XXXX

"You know, if they were to make a vampire TV show, I'd bet they'd compare it ruthlessly to that series _Twilight_ which makes no sense. I mean, it's like comparing wizards and vampires. It doesn't make sense. And really, have you ever heard of a _popular_ series where vampires and wizards coexist? No." Bonnie seemed to enjoy rambling on.

"Because that would be like real life, " Damon had responded, causing Bonnie to laugh.

"That's true. Shockingly, you have now been right about something a grand total of one times," Bonnie had held up a single finger at that point.

Damon had realized that Bonnie was a lot more fun when she didn't hate him. So he'd said so.

She looked at him, a little confused, before setting her ice cream aside. "I don't hate you."

"But you—"

"I mean," Bonnie continued, "I used to, a lot. I blamed you and Stefan for things that in the end just . . . happened." Bonnie saddened at the memories that popped into her mind at that.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry." Damon said sincerely.

Bonnie smiled and continued as if she hadn't heard his apology. "And in the end, it's really hard to sustain hate, unless you have a really good reason."

"I think you've had more than enough reasons, Bonnie," Damon had said softly at that, not looking at her.

"Sometimes you drive me crazy and I wish I could give you some sort of permanent brain aneurysm . . . but you've saved my life as many as I've saved yours. And you . . . you're not all bad," Bonnie said, beginning to drift off.

"Not all bad? What do you mean?"

"Well, lately anyway, you've tried to be a good brother, that means a lot. And you brought me ice cream. But you really have to stop kissing me."

"I only kissed you once."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow haughtily, "That's not the way I remember it."

"It's the way it happened."

"Sure it is," Bonnie snorted. "Anyway, you need to be nicer to Stefan anyway."

"You just said anyway twice, both times slightly unnecessarily."

"You're unnecessary," Bonnie smiled. Then she was more serious, "But really."

"I am a better brother."

"Be even better than that then. If Stefan feels uncomfortable talking to you about something, then there's a problem."

Damon turned to her at that, "What did I miss now?" Damon regretted that even though his relationship with Stefan was the best it had been in, well, ever, he still wished they were closer.

"Caroline," Bonnie said, as if it should be obvious.

"I knew about that," Damon said, shrugging nonchalantly, but inwardly sighing with relief.

"Because he told you, or because it's obvious when you see them together?"

Damon hesitated.

"Exactly," Bonnie said without glee or pleasure. "You need to fix things."

"I didn't realize things were broken."

"Now you do," Bonnie looked at him as if she were losing respect for him by the second.

Damon realized they'd gone almost an entire movie without talking about what had gotten him over to her house in the first place. "Bonnie, we should probably talk now."

"We are talking."

"About the kisses, Bonnie."

"Don't you remember what I said? The second one didn't happen." Bonnie insisted.

Denial, denial, denial. Bonnie, you're swimming in that river.

"Then how can you say that I kissed you multiple times?" Damon shook his head. "Nevermind, even if we just talk about the first one, Bonnie—"

"If there was only one it doesn't have to be the 'first' one, it's just _the _kiss." Bonnie wrinkled her nose. "Wait, that makes it sound like a big deal."

"It was."

"Only if you make it out to be."

"Bonnie—"

Bonnie glanced something out of the corner of her eye. "Movie's over. Get up and put in the second one, I'm tired."

Damon had gotten up, being the gallant sort he . . . generally wasn't.

About halfway through the second movie he'd felt her lean on him, obviously beginning to nod off.

He'd contemplated moving her, then had realized that he rather liked having her there, so he'd merely settled in and continued watching the movie.

When she'd fallen asleep he'd realized he had a problem.

XXXX

Bonnie woke up with a hangover and felt—in addition to that—like she was in a sugar coma.

She felt something get shoved up to her lips and she opened her eyes. "What is that?"

She was surprised to realize that Damon was in front of her until she remembered him coming over, and she oddly imagined that she'd tried to have some sort of Harry Potter movie marathon with him . . . but she'd thought he'd left. And honestly that was all she remembered.

"To calm your stomach. All of that sugar and alcohol cannot have been healthy." Damon smiled at that.

Bonnie gingerly took the drink and downed it. "That didn't taste that bad."

Damon shook his head, "Why is it that humans believe that something has to taste horribly in order to be effective?"

"Because it's generally true." Bonnie said, sleepily. "What are you doing here?"

Damon felt his heart squeeze. He'd made a lot of progress—though he hadn't actually gotten around to a discussion of how he felt about Bonnie—but she didn't remember any of it.

"Just comforting you."

"Well, you can leave now." Bonnie said nervously, realizing she was in her pajamas. This was awkward. And this was not happening, not happening, she repeated in her mind.

"Okay. But you promised me a Harry Potter marathon, and we only got to the end of the second film."

Bonnie looked at him in shock, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Bon Bon. You don't remember your promise?" Damon actually decided to _pat_ her on the head.

Oh hell no.

He continued, "I'm going to hold you to it . . . but not today. There's more of the drink in the kitchen." He managed to leave just before she began her tirade. So she had a whole lot of anger, and no way to express it. She looked down at the glass in her hand and shrugged, throwing it at the wall.

"Did that make you feel better?" Elena asked from the doorway. "Sorry, I came through the back door, which you should lock by the way, when I heard the crash."

Bonnie turned to her friend, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why Damon, of all people?"

"Because you like him," Elena responded simply.

"No I don't."

"Well if you don't—" Elena looked at her, scrutinizing. "Then you should. Because there's something there, Bonnie. I don't know why I didn't see it before. I was probably just too wrapped up in my own drama."

"There's not anything there." Bonnie insisted.

"If you say so," Elena shrugged, "Did you turn him away last night?" she asked slyly.

Bonnie pinched the bridge of her nose, as if it would somehow release the tension building inside of her. "I don't think so."

"What do you mean, you don't think so?" Elena sat down next to her friend. "How do you not know?"

Bonnie waved to the floor next to the table in front of her.

Elena sighed, "How many times have I told you not to mix alcohol and sugar? You know what it does to you."

Bonnie grimaced, "I know. I really know."

"So, are you going to admit it now?"

"What?"

"That you like him. Your hyped up self never would have let him stay. Did you . . . kiss?" Elena asked, completely curious. "Because if you did, it's okay. I don't mind. I—I don't think I ever loved him. It's one of those things where you just kind of get so wrapped up in yourself you can't see straight. Now I can. It's strange."

Bonnie took her friend's hands and squeezed them tightly. "What made you realize that?"

Elena hesitated. "I think it started when Damon broke up with me, then Caroline went off on me, and Stefan rejected me. And you, Tyler and Jeremy were barely speaking to me. And then I was talking to Matt and he pointed out that I was alone."

Elena sighed, "And I—I love you guys. I can't lose you. And suddenly I could just see myself so clearly. And I didn't like it." Elena squeezed back.

"Oh," Bonnie said simply. "Well, do you still feel lonely?"

"Not really, but I'm still working on reconstructing those bridges I've burned, not everyone has been as quick to forgive me as you have."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at that. "As quick, Bonnie." Elena assured her. "It's because you're my best friend. And you're a much better person than I am."

Bonnie sighed, "I'm not." Bonnie reflected on what she remembered from the night before, and then though briefly about the kisses . . . and winced.

Elena stared at her for a moment, "You did kiss him!"

Bonnie looked at her in shock, "Of course not!"

"Liar."

Bonnie opened her mouth to disagree, and instead pulled her hands out of Elena's and buried her head in them, sinking into the couch. She mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?"

Bonnie lifted her hand slightly, "You're not helping with this whole denial thing."

"That's what friends are for," Elena smiled.

XXXX

Well that was a weird chapter. Reviews, pretty please.


	9. Chapter 9

Penultimate chapter. I disclaim.

XXXXXX

Elena was happier than she'd been in a while—she felt free. And all it had taken was everyone she knew either outright ignoring her, or giving her a verbal spanking.

After that, she'd set out to fix everything.

She'd made sure to shove Stefan and Caroline at each other, tricking them into meeting each other. That had been easy, and merely the first step in her plan.

She'd proceeded to apologize to both of them individually, _and _as a couple. They were actually adorable. It only gave her a slight _pang_ in her heart to realize that she'd let one of the most amazing guys she'd ever known slip away . . . but at least she knew that someone worthy had his heart now.

Then she'd apologized to Jeremy, telling him that she supported him completely. And, honestly, part of the reason she'd freaked out at Tyler had been that she didn't trust him not to break her brother's heart.

And why shouldn't she have been worried? Tyler wasn't exactly known for his stable relationships. But he seemed to have some weird sort of connection to Jeremy—that had just somehow become romantic.

Now if they could just find acceptance from everyone else, everything would be fine.

XXXX

Tyler stood in front of his mother nervously; ready to tell her the truth.

He was nervous, but not because he was ashamed. He liked to believe that his mother would accept him no matter what, but if she couldn't, he didn't know what he would do.

Because if she made him choose between her and Jeremy . . . he couldn't guarantee what his answer would be.

He watched his mother carefully, trying to figure out how to say it. "I haven't been completely honest with you lately, I've been hiding something from you, but I need to tell you," he sighed, "Mom, I have something to say—"

His mother just smiled and Tyler became slightly confused. What exactly did she think he was going to say that had her in such a good mood? "I know. I've been waiting for you to tell me," his mother replied, interrupting his thoughts.

"I don't think you actually know, because if you did, then I think you'd be more . . . I don't know."

"Tyler, I love you. There's nothing you can do to change that. Certainly not dating that nice boy Jeremy Gilbert."

She just smiled at his obvious shock, "How did you—"

"You're obvious, Tyler. The way you go up to 'hang out' and come down smiling like he just hung the sun, and the way you look at him. It took me a little while to get used to the idea, but I have. And I love you."

Tyler stepped forward quickly and enveloped his mother in a tight, intense hug. "I love you too."

XXXX

Bonnie sighed. She didn't—she couldn't—no.

She may or may not like Damon Salvatore.

She snorted at that thought. _Like_. Such a tame word that didn't really mean anything. You like it when the sun comes up in the morning, you like it when you find an empty parking spot outside the supermarket, you like a guy who makes you want to slap him most of the time.

A bunch of _like _on a spectrum that seems _huge._ Bonnie liked a lot of things and a lot of people.

The question was, was he special?

That Bonnie did not know.

She almost didn't want to know.

When she'd spoken to Elena about it she'd went back in her memory, searching for Damon's presence and she realized something terrifying: whatever her feelings were for him, they'd been there for a while. She'd been feeling them—but she apparently had some amazing subconscious sublimation powers, because she'd been masking them with dislike, disdain and heavy dosages of sarcasm.

She remembered her first impressions of Damon—and they hadn't exactly been favorable. She remembered watching him with Caroline, remembered watching him obsess over Katherine and Elena.

She'd hated watching that, because she'd somewhat sympathized with him. It was hard to never be the person someone wanted, to always be the second choice. Or not even a choice at all.

Bonnie knew what that felt like, though she rarely mentioned it, and she really didn't like to talk about it.

But if that was all she felt for him, then that didn't explain the tingling, firey sensations she felt when he touched her, or the weird warm feeling that came over her when she was "arguing" with him.

She thought about when she'd found out that Elena and he were dating. Maybe there'd been some secret jealousy there too. Had she taken the opportunity analyze the feeling, she have probably explained it away as jealousy of Damon for somehow finding someone.

It hadn't worked out for him though, and her feelings over that confused her. There was a part of her that was happy, because they didn't love each other anyway. There was a part of her that when Damon had kissed her hadn't known what to say, or what to do, but most of her hadn't cared about anything other than the kiss itself. Because for a brief moment she hadn't felt alone, and that meant something.

Relief and happiness. Bonnie sighed again at that. Damon shouldn't make her feel those things.

He shouldn't excite her, he shouldn't fascinate her. And she shouldn't think about him. She shouldn't look forward to arguing with him—which she'd secretly been fond of . . . well, almost always. She shouldn't want him at all. She shouldn't think about him when he's not around, and just _want_ him to be there so badly it almost hurts.

Bonnie shouldn't have initiated a kiss. She shouldn't, even now, want to kiss him again.

Bonnie didn't know to handle all of the emotions swirling around her, and she couldn't determine whether or not they were merely romanticized thoughts she was thinking because she didn't want to think about the biggest problem she had.

She was lonely.

And she didn't want to start something with anyone unless she was sure she really _wanted_ that person, that it wasn't just convenient, or because she just wanted to _have_ someone.

So in the end, Bonnie was horribly confused and had no idea what she wanted or actually felt.

XXXX

Caroline smiled. Stefan was horribly adorable. And he wanted her—that felt absolutely amazing, because she was in love with him.

She hadn't said the words yet, but she would. She was waiting.

Maybe it was a bit pessimistic of her, but she wanted to make sure that this was real, that this wasn't just some sort of horribly intricate dream.

She loved his smile so much—it made her melt, and she could honestly spend the rest of her life letting him smile at her.

It made her feel whole, and happy.

She really loved that his smile—at least right now—was just for _her._

God, she loved his smile. She loved him.

It was amazing—this feeling of falling with someone into some sort of love story.

Caroline realized that neither one of them had said anything in at least five minutes—they'd just been smiling at each other. She laughed. "Well, this is fun."

"It is," Stefan agreed. He leaned over and kissed her and she felt herself sink, _sink _into him.

But she felt herself pull away as questions began to cycle through her mind.

Why was she so lucky?

Why did he want her?

Stefan must have noticed the slight frown on her face. And, proving that he knew her well, he knew exactly what to say. "Because you're you, Caroline. That's mushy and corny, but it's true."

Caroline felt herself smile again. Stefan, noticing that the sparkle was back in her eye, leaned over to kiss her again. This time she didn't pull away.

XXXX

Tyler and Jeremy were happy.

Bonnie smiled at their utter cuteness. She was happy for them, she really was.

She _was._

She laughed at something silly that Jeremy said and sipped her tea.

"You know what might be fun?" Tyler asked suddenly.

"What?" Bonnie asked, not realizing that both Tyler and Jeremy were somewhat nervous, as if this was not random.

"A party. Maybe, you know, a dinner party."

Bonnie lifted an eyebrow, slightly suspiciously, "A dinner party?"

"Yeah." Tyler looked down at his hands.

Jeremy sighed, realizing that it was his turn, "Tyler's mom. She doesn't want him to spend all of his time with me, which makes sense. She said that it's really easy when you're in a new relationship—" At that Jeremy turned to smile at Tyler."—to forget about your friends. And she pointed out that lately it's just been the two of us. I mean, Matt hasn't been over to Tyler's in a few weeks."

"That's . . . strange." Bonnie said cautiously. It was, actually. But she wasn't sure how she felt about this.

"Exactly," Tyler said. "But I managed to get it down to a reasonable number—she wanted to have an all-out bash, but then I pointed out that that would achieve the opposite of what she wants, which is me to reconnect with friends."

"Okay." Bonnie narrowed her eyes, "And you want to know if I'll come? Of course I will." She was sure there was more to it than that.

Tyler hesitated. Jeremy sighed. "So Mrs. Lockwood believes strongly in the importance of even numbers. Especially since it's actually, well, a dinner party."

"Cut to the point, Jeremy." Bonnie demanded.

"Damon will be there."

Bonnie swallowed. "So?"

Jeremy shot Tyler a look, "Elena said—"

"I don't care what Elena said. She doesn't know what she's talking about," Bonnie stood up suddenly at that. "Um, I need to go. I'll see you guys later. I have to—meet someone."

Tyler and Jeremy merely stared at her. She smiled awkwardly and ran off.

They looked at each other in confusion.

"Dude. I think Elena was right."

XXXX

Bonnie ran off right into Damon. Literally. She ran into him, knocking him over, and falling down on top of him. Her head ended up on his chest, so when she looked up, she was pretty close to his head. "Oops."

"Yes, oops." Damon smiled. It almost seemed genuine, which unnerved Bonnie.

Bonnie tried to lift herself off of him, but forgot that she had her bag over her shoulder, so she ended up falling back down.

They were nose-to-nose now.

Damon mused aloud, "Does this count as our second kiss? I know our actual second kiss didn't happen . . . but does this one count?"

Bonnie just stared at him in surprise. "What?"

Damon smirked, "It's an Eskimo kiss."

"I can't believe you just said that," Bonnie said in amazement before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

Damon smiled. There was some sort of weird pleasure he'd just received from being able to make her laugh. It was impossible to describe.

Bonnie stopped laughing suddenly and grew serious. She struggled to lift herself off of him, and Damon felt awkwardly . . . naked. He'd enjoyed having her on top of him—in a completely platonic way.

Though he wouldn't, of course, mind some non-platonic Bonnie on top of him. He cut off that train of thought. He stood up.

He didn't need to go there right now.

"Are you okay?" He asked instead.

"Fine." Bonnie said curtly.

Bonnie was surprised to see Damon's face drop a little. "Are you? I kind of just bowled over you."

"I'm fine," Damon's smile returned.

"Well, I should go." Bonnie said, feeling more than a little awkward.

Damon grabbed her hands at that and just waited until she stopped looking everywhere but at him and finally met his eyes. "Bonnie."

Bonnie closed her eyes at that, "Look, Damon. Just say it."

"What?" Damon asked, a little caught off guard.

"Let's just get it over with. We're kind of bouncing around each other, and we're not actually talking this out. So do it. What is it that you want to say? I won't interrupt you."

Damon just blinked in response. "Can we do this somewhere else?" Damon looked around, they were standing on a fairly busy street.

"Fair enough," Bonnie stalked off, leaving Damon to catch up with her. When Bonnie found a place she deemed acceptable she stopped. "Now, go."

"I—" Damon stopped, realizing that he didn't know what to say. He'd spent time trying to just get her to talk to him, and he'd forgotten to figure out how he actually felt. He didn't know what to say.

Bonnie merely raised an eyebrow at his silence, "Well?"

Damon sighed, "I can't stop thinking about you."

Bonnie bit her lip. "Damon, what does that even mean?"

"I don't know."

"Then come back and talk to me when you do know."

"Bonnie—"

She shot him a pleading look. "Please."

"Okay," he stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek and disappeared before she even had the opportunity to process what had just happened.

It was one of those almost funnily tragic sorts of moments, because even though he didn't know . . . now _she_ did.

It had come to her in a flash. As she told him to leave she realized that she didn't want him to. But she needed him to. She didn't want to do something stupid and fall in love with him if he weren't all in.

She couldn't handle that sort of heartbreak.

XXXX

_One Month Later_

"I honestly didn't expect it to take you this long to organize this," Bonnie commented.

Tyler had a pained expression on his face, "My mother . . . she's insane."

"But she loves you, Tyler. She only wants you to be happy," Bonnie teased.

"But she's driving me crazy . . . " Tyler trailed off. He smiled brightly. Bonnie followed his gaze and saw Jermey, "Go say hello to your boyfriend, Tyler. Before I pounce on him."

"You wouldn't."

"I might."

"But you wouldn't."

"Why don't you go kiss him hello before we have to find out whether or not I actually would?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow. She was serious.

Tyler narrowed his eyes at her before walking over to Jeremy. Bonnie sighed. Silly.

Bonnie looked around. She glanced at Caroline and Stefan and smiled.

Honestly, someone should save her from all of this horrible sweetness.

She turned her attention to Elena—who was adorably trying to hold Matt's attention, when in fact she already had it completely.

She realized there was someone missing, which is why they hadn't sat down at the table yet for dinner.

Damon.

Bonnie fully recognized that she was, well, a little bit in love with him. Or, well, a lot. Bonnie smiled when Elena looked her way and nodded. Bonnie looked down at her hands.

She'd felt some sort of weird energy between them since as long as she had known him, but she'd pretended it was just hate.

Then she'd kissed him, and she'd been so confused, she hadn't been able to think straight.

Then she'd done a memory spell . . . and she remembered the night he'd brought her ice cream. He'd been so sweet and funny, yet snarky and just . . . really hot.

And when she'd told him to leave her alone until he knew how he felt about her, she had known that she really wanted him.

She just _knew._

And, honestly, she hadn't expected him to take so long to figure out what he wanted.

In the meantime, she was obsessing. She was trying desperately not to be one of those girls, but she couldn't stop herself.

She kept thinking about how much she wanted to talk to him, see him, touch him, _kiss him._

It was driving her insane, keeping her up at night, and making her way more neurotic than she'd ever been in her life.

It needed to stop.

XXXX

Damon Salvatore freely admitted that he was being cowardly. Normally, he wasn't the type.

But now he was.

He wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to hurt Bonnie—which in and of itself proved to him how deeply he felt for her.

He was a bit of a screw up. And he honestly didn't believe he deserve someone like Bonnie.

Katherine, Elena . . . both of them had just proven how emotionally unstable he was.

So at first he'd avoided Bonnie because of that. But then he'd realized that if he'd told Bonnie that . . . she would have killed him.

So upon realizing that the party was tonight, he decided that it was time.

It was time to tell her that he wanted her. Only her. He didn't know quite when it had happened, but he was glad it had.

XXXX

"Damon," Bonnie said. "How are you?" She mentally smacked herself for that brilliant greeting.

He ignored her attempts at pleasantries, "I need to talk to you."

"That's what you're doing."

"Outside, please?"

Bonnie looked around, "I suppose. For a few minutes."

Damon grabbed her arm, pulling her gently out of the room, and then outside. Bonnie shivered. "I left my jacket inside."

Damon just stared at her, "Sorry. I'll grab it,"

"No, it's fine. Let's just get this over with." Bonnie winced at how horrible that made her sound.

"I'm sorry," Damon said suddenly.

Bonnie quirked her head to the side, "I said it was fine. I'm not really that cold."

"That's not what I meant. I know I've said it before, but I'm sorry about what happened with your Grams. And I wish we hadn't had to drag you into the whole thing with Katherine." Damon sighed, pulling at the back of his neck with his hand.

Bonnie realized part of the reason Damon was avoiding her. "You feel guilty."

"Of course I do."

"Damon," Bonnie reached out to tilt his head towards her. "That—I—it's in the past. And there will always be a part of me that wishes that all of that didn't happen, but it did. And it's—I don't blame you anymore."

"Maybe you should. I was selfish."

"You're not that guy anymore." Bonnie replied.

"I feel like him sometimes, Bonnie. It's why . . . I couldn't tell you."

"Couldn't tell me what?"

Bonnie prayed that he'd just tell her the truth.

"Bonnie, I can't."

Bonnie had never seen Damon so lacking in confidence, so sad. So . . . afraid. "Damon, you are not the guy you used to be. The worst of you is gone." Bonnie smiled, "Now, you're just snarky and overbearing and at times annoying as hell . . . but you're better now. And you—" Bonnie placed her hands on either side of his face, "You deserve to be happy, with whomever that might be. Don't forget that."

"Why are you forgiving me so easily?"

"I told you that night we had our Harry Potter marathon." Bonnie smirked. "Don't you remember?"

"I thought you didn't."

"Now I do. I told you, I forgave you a while ago . . . around the time I forgave myself for what happened."

Damon leaned into her left hand slightly, possibly without even noticing what he was doing. "Bonnie, I care for you."

Bonnie felt her heart drop slightly, but she ignored it. Baby steps.

"I know." She sighed, "Let's . . . take this very, very slowly."

"Is there something to take slowly?"

"Yes." Bonnie answered. "But only if I don't freeze to death right now."

Damon realized that Bonnie was still shivering, "I told you that I'd—"

"Damon, let's just get inside."

"Are you going to always be this obstinate?"

"Are you always going to annoy the hell out of me?"

Damon smirked, "Probably."

"Then there's your answer," Bonnie hesitated before grabbing Damon's hand as they headed back inside.

Baby steps.

XXXXXX

One more chapter, then a random oneshot sequel that won't pop up for a week or two. Anyways, if anyone is curious as to what my next Bamon fic will be about . . . review this chapter or the next one asking for it and I'll send you the summary. Yuppers. I'm sneaky like that.


	10. Chapter 10

I freely admit that this is very sappy. But hey, it's the end. Thank you all so much for reading this far! I disclaim, obviously.

XXXX

Bonnie smacked her boyfriend of two months with the rolled up magazine she'd been reading. "Don't do that. Ever."

Damon looked at her, eyes twinkling.

Bonnie sighed, "I'm not going to like what comes next, am I?"

Damon just smirked at her before picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, listening with glee as she squealed. "Put me down!"

"You didn't like me splashing you with water, I think you'll probably dislike me throwing you in the pool even more."

And he proceeded to carry that out—dropping her unceremoniously in the pool.

She sputtered, looking up and glaring at him.

She briefly concentrated and watched with great pleasure as Damon "accidentally" got pushed into pool, splashing right next to her.

She laughed, then squeaked as he caught her from behind, pulling her down into the water. She gasped, coming back up for air. "You're going to pay for that."

"I know." Damon replied, smirking. He was looking forward to it.

XXXX

Bonnie Bennett was in love with Damon Salvatore. She didn't sweat the small things, she didn't try to think about what kind of future they might have . . . because she could not, would not, worry about that right now.

Instead, she would enjoy herself.

Because being in love was pretty damn awesome.

She hadn't really told him yet, because . . . well, it was sort of complicated. Or, maybe it wasn't so complicated: she was afraid. Because as soon as she said the words, they meant something.

She felt it all the same.

And tonight she felt ready. It felt kind of magical and amazing, like the universe was just waiting for her, watching her every move. Because tonight was a night that mattered.

Damon had declared tonight a date night because he had a surprise for her, but she had a surprise for him. She really hadn't thought about what his surprise would be until she on her way to the place where they'd shared their first kiss.

It was almost too sweet, actually, the way it seemed to matter to him.

Bonnie had insisted on taking things slowly—half the speed of a snail according to Elena—and Damon had agreed with her.

There might have been such a thing as too slow though.

Bonnie sighed as she saw Damon waiting for her. "Hey," she leaned up to kiss him.

"Ready?"

"Depends on what we're doing."

"We're dancing."

Bonnie knew that she had a 'what the hell' look on her face, so she asked, "What the hell?"

"I'm pretty sure I stole it out of Stefan's playbook, so it should be rather legit."

"Okay. And?"

"It's romantic, right?"

Bonnie smiled slightly, "It is, yes. But you really need to stop with the whole "romance" thing and taking things so slowly. It's driving me crazy."

"You're just a horny little witch, aren't you?"

Bonnie smacked him at that, "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Damon smiled at that, "I do," he cupped her cheek with his hand.

Bonnie couldn't help but smile in response. She really hated that he had that _power_ over her.

"I love you." Bonnie felt herself say, as if the words were being torn from her throat without her control.

Damon grew serious, leaning in to kiss her softly. She felt herself melt into him, her hands wrapping around his neck, and her heart beating so fast it was drowning out any thoughts that managed to pop into her head.

He pulled away from her, interrupting the kiss, and just stared into her eyes.

Bonnie felt a whine coming, she attempted to pull him in for another kiss, but he pulled away.

"I love you, Bonnie."

Bonnie smiled, "Obviously." And she grabbed his arms. "Dance, right?"

"Right."

XXXX

Bonnie sighed. She should probably stop with the ice cream. She looked at the tub in her arms. Well, maybe later. You couldn't have a Harry Potter marathon without ice cream. Well, she supposed that she could . . . but it was less fun that way. "Ready?"

Damon turned to her, "Yes." They, for some strange reason, had never gotten around to finishing the marathon they'd started. Something always seemed to get in the way.

But when Bonnie realized that part one of the seventh movie was supposed to come out soon . . . she was on that. She'd demanded that they watch the movies—again, starting from the beginning, because that was tradition. Before a new Harry Potter film, you always had to watch _all_ of the previous films.

Midway through the sixth film, Bonnie sighed, pausing the movie.

"What's wrong? Do you need to—" Damon smirked.

Bonnie merely lifted an eyebrow and cut him off. "If I were you I wouldn't complete that thought."

"You don't know what I was going to say."

"Yes, I do."

"So you read minds now."

"No, yours is just simple enough that I can understand it without even trying," Bonnie replied sweetly.

Damon rolled his eyes at that.

"What, no retort? Tsk tsk. I'm disappointed." Bonnie smirked.

Damon decided to do the one thing he knew would shut her up. He kissed her.

She pulled away, "Damon, I think I said I was going to pay you back for something, do you remember that?"

Damon sighed. "Yes. Are you really going to let a silly thing like me dropping you in a pool cock block us right now?"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "When you put it like that—"

Damon placed a finger on her lips, "Do you really want to finish that thought?"

"Maybe I do."

Bonnie shook her head, and realized she'd gotten far away from her original point, "I was actually thinking though, that—" Bonnie shifted on the couch next to Damon, "—It might be more fun to do this instead," Bonnie lifted her leg over his, straddling him. "Unless you have a problem with that."

Damon quirked his head to the side, "No problem here."

Bonnie smiled. "Consider this your punishment," she kissed him on the cheek before bouncing off up him. "I'm out. I'm tired, and this way you still haven't seen the ending of this movie," Bonnie smirked.

Damon looked at her in shock, "Really?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Bonnie made her way around the couch, standing behind Damon, she leaned down to speak into his hear, "What's tomorrow, Damon?"

Damon winced, "Your birthday."

"Which means?"

"That the girls are coming over, and I'm banished."

"Exactly. And?"

"And I'm supposed to make sure I have something planned for our celebration."

"And?"

"I love you." Unspoken were the words 'take pity on me' but she heard them anyway and smiled.

"I love you too. Now get out."

Damon sighed and disappeared at that.

XXXX

Bonnie smoothed out her dress. It was perfect for her celebration with Damon.

"Bonnie—" Damon knocked before entering her bedroom. "Wow."

Bonnie turned to face him, enjoying the look on Damon's face. "How do I look?" she asked teasingly.

"Perfect," he walked closer, standing behind her as she looked in the mirror. "So perfect."

Bonnie shivered as his hands flitted around her bare arms. "Thanks."

Damon smiled into her neck as he kissed it.

She felt herself sink against him. "You should—"

"Stay."

"Damon—"

"Bonnie, I have never loved the way I love you." Damon said honestly, shocking even himself that he would say it, well, like that.

Bonnie felt her heart beat so hard it seemed to want to beat out of her chest. "I feel the same way."

"This feels right."

"Us?"

"Yeah," Damon hugged her from behind, swaying with her from side-to-side.

"We're both better together than we were apart," she said softly.

"We are. Together," he smiled.

She spun around in arms, looking into his eyes. "Better together."

Damon kissed her cheek, "I'm better with you."

"No, you're just . . . you."

"That's why it's so perfect."

Bonnie smiled, "So, where are we going?"

"Does it matter?"

"No. Because I'll be with you," Bonnie replied simply and honestly.

XXXXXX

I take pride in my sappiness. Anyways. Thank you all so much. Reviews, favorites, etc, all make my world go round. And, as I said before, there is a oneshot sequel coming up. If you can figure out what it is, I will clap for you. Anyway . . . be happy!

My next Bamon fic—the only other pairing is Stelena, for plot purposes—won't start popping up for a few weeks, I have another fic to write, then I have finals. Yikes.


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